Maya Jama quits Love Island after nine series

Maya Jama has quit as host of Love Island after nine series, announcing her departure on Instagram and telling fans that "to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then." An ITV spokesperson called her a "fantastic and much loved host" and thanked her for three years on the show.

Jama, 32, took over in 2023 from Laura Whitmore, who had fronted the programme since 2020. Whitmore in turn succeeded Caroline Flack, who had hosted the show since its 2015 revival. Jama also presented the spin-offs Love Island: Games and Love Island: All Stars. She began hosting at 28.

Three hosts in nine years is an unusual churn rate for what remains one of ITV's flagship formats, and the timing is instructive. Jama appeared as a contestant on the BBC's Celebrity Traitors last month, reaching the final before being banished by fellow traitor King Kenny. The winners of that show — comedian Romesh Ranganathan and actor Sebastian Croft — took an £83,000 prize pot for their charities; Jama donated an undisclosed sum to her own charity, Action for Children, despite losing.

The BBC, not ITV, got her best television moment of the autumn. Her announcement that the show "belongs to the people who watch it" reads as affection for the format and says nothing about the platform — a distinction performers now make routinely as broadcasters compete for talent against streamers, podcasts and personal channels.

Love Island has run since 2015, when it was revived from a 2000s show of the same name. The format — contestants coupled up in isolation, voted off by viewers — remains a proven ratings machine. What is no longer guaranteed is that the person holding the villa keys will stay.