Maya Jama has confirmed she is the new Love Island host.
The 28-year-old TV presenter was tipped to replace former presenter Laura Whitmore as the host of the popular ITV2 reality dating programme.
The award-winning dating show, produced by Lifted Entertainment, part of ITV Studios, will return in early 2023 for the first of two series.
Maya said in a statement, “I’ve always been such a huge Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the country’s favorite shows! I can’t wait to enter the Villa to meet all the islanders.’
Fresh start: Maya Jama, 28, is the new Love Island presenter
Farewell: The TV presenter was hotly tipped to replace former presenter Laura Whitmore (pictured) as host of the hit ITV2 reality dating show
With record-breaking ratings, Love Island became the most watched series ever on ITV Hub, with over 269 million streams this summer, and this year attracted the largest audience aged 16-34 across all channels. Content posted to Love Island’s social accounts reached nearly 2 billion.
Director of Reality Programming & Acquisitions and Controller, ITV2, ItvBe & CITV, Paul Mortimer, said: ‘It would never be easy to find a new host to follow the amazing Laura Whitmore.
“In Maya Jama, however, we have another high-profile fan of the show who will be a great addition to the Love Island family.
“Cool, charming and charismatic, I speak for all of us when I say that Maya will also bring a unique presentation style to the show, as will Laura and, of course, the much-missed Caroline Flack. We are very happy to have her on board.’
Laura announced in August this year that she was leaving Love Island and will not be returning to host the next series of the ITV2 dating show.
The Irish presenter, 37, joined the show in 2020 and has hosted the hugely popular reality show and spin-off Aftersun for three series.
Laura – who is mother to a 16-month-old daughter with Love Island voiceover star Iain Sterling – took to her Instagram at the time to confirm she was leaving and said flying back and forth from the villa was “very difficult”. ‘ found. .
Favourite: An ITV source said: ‘Maya was ITV’s dream option. She is fun, beautiful and a brilliant presenter’
The broadcaster’s performance on the dating show ITV2 received mixed reviews this season; some viewers praised her handling of sensitive topics, while others criticized her for “encouraging slut shaming” in a segment that led to 427 Ofcom complaints.
Laura replaced Caroline Flack as Love Island presenter when she stepped down in December 2019. Caroline tragically took her own life at the age of 40 in February 2020.
In her statement, Laura said she only planned to fill Caroline in for one series, emotionally saying she hoped she would make her late boyfriend “proud.”
Exit: Laura announced in August this year that she was quitting Love Island and would not be returning to host the next series of the ITV2 dating show
Departure: She took to her Instagram to confirm she would be leaving the show and said she found flying back and forth from the villa ‘very difficult’
On Instagram, Laura said: ‘Some news! I will not be hosting the next Love Island series.
“There are certain elements of the show that I have found very difficult that cannot be changed because of the format, including flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects.
“I wish it was still possible, but know you’re in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in Caroline for a series and it turned out to be 3 series. I hope I made you proud, Caroline.’
Host: The Irish presenter, 37, joined Love Island in 2020, hosting the hugely popular reality TV show for three series
Speaking of Laura’s departure, an ITV spokesperson said at the time: ‘Laura has been a fantastic host over the last three series of the show.
“We are so grateful for all she has brought to the programme, but understand and respect her decision, and we look forward to working with her on upcoming ITV projects.”
Maya has presentation experience on shows such as Walk the Line and Soccer Aid, while Vick has directed spin-off shows for The X Factor, The Voice and I’m A Celebrity.
Laura’s departure from the show came after she was candid about the “exhausting” and “heavy” aspects of hosting Love Island.
She told the distractions podcast: “With things with Love Island, sometimes it’s just a little tiring because some things are just mental.
‘As a host, this doesn’t take much time compared to my other work. It’s over eight weeks.
“The host only comes three or four times, it always has, but it gets the most attention. It’s a bit tiring and it’s tough.’
Day: Irish TV star Laura (pictured) revealed her shocking decision to quit her job this summer after three years – partly blamed on the show’s format for her career choice