It has been confirmed that Maya Jama will be the new host of Love Island just weeks after Laura Whitmore quit the show to focus on other projects.
Maya, who currently hosts BBC Three’s Glow Up, was heavily rumoured to fill Laura’s shoes and now it’s official. She’ll make her Love Island debut when the show returns to South Africa for another winter series in early 2023.
The exciting news was announced on Instagram when the official Love Island account shared a video of Maya sipping from a Love Island water bottle. They captioned the post, "Okay, the rumours are true 😉 Say hey to your brand-new #LoveIsland host @mayajama! 💘"
Speaking about her new job, Maya said, “I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows! I can’t wait to get into the villa to meet all of the Islanders.”
Paul Mortimer, Director of Reality Programming & Acquisitions and Controller at ITV2, added, “Finding a new host to follow the wonderful Laura Whitmore was never going to be easy. In Maya Jama though, we have another high profile fan of the show who’ll be a great addition to the Love Island family. Cool, charming and charismatic, I speak for us all when I say Maya will also bring a unique presenting style to the show, as did Laura and, of course, the very much missed Caroline Flack. We’re very pleased to have her on board.”
Since Laura announced that she would be stepping down as presenter of the UK's most talked about dating show/influencer, all anyone can talk about (okay, primarily the heat team in the office kitchen) is who will be stepping into Laura's rather fabulous shoes in 2023.
Historically Love Island has only had one host, but one duo who put their name forward were former Made In Chelsea couple Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott. The real-life couple recently shared a video of their Love Island "audition tape" on Sam's Instagram Reels, captioning the "disturbing" video, "Our audition tape to be the next Love Island hosts 💃🏼🕺🏻😂."
We can't even begin to describe what we're seeing here, but it appears to show the pair being characteristically playful while strutting it in unison to Fergie's Fergalicious.
Are Sam Thompson and Zara McDermott set to host Love Island in 2023?
Jokes aside, as far as credentials go, Sam and Zara have them in spades. After all, Zara has direct experience of being an Islander and Sam is absolutely obsessed with the show. Plus, they both have presenting experience, are a real life couple and have legions of fans.
Although Maya Jama has since been confirmed as the Love Island host so we won't be seeing Sam and Zara strut into the villa hand in hand. Get them on Aftersun, we say.
Why did Laura Whitmore quit Love Island?
Former Love Island host Laura Whitmore recently announced she was stepping down from her role as presenter after three series at the helm. The Irish model – who filled in for Caroline Flack in 2020, and became permanent host following her untimely death the same year – took to Instagram to share the career update.
She wrote, “Some news! I won’t be hosting the next series of Love Island. There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed due to 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'll be in safe hands. I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into three series. I hope I did you proud, Caroline.”
And while heat has been told that her scheduling conflicts are a contributing factor to her decision, quitting ahead of the show’s winter series early next year also boils down to struggles with criticism and a strive to be taken more seriously. A source close to the 37-year-old mum of one says, “It’s been no secret that the last series of Love Island wasn’t the best for Laura.
She struggled with the criticism she received, as well as not always agreeing with the producers. With the winter series being in South Africa, she couldn’t commit to being out there the whole time and didn’t want to be flying back and forth.” Laura – whose husband, comedian Iain Stirling, is Love Islan_d_’s witty narrator – has previously spoken out about the unfair criticism she received during her spell on the show. “It was always talked about what I was wearing when I started working – no one’s talking about what [my male co-presenters] were wearing. They’re not getting this. You have to remove yourself or you’ll just go crazy after a while. But I see my male counterparts not being talked about in the same way and that’s hard and unfair,” she said on a podcast.
And our insider adds that despite still championing the show, Laura’s zest for it has dwindled. “She still loves the show and obviously Iain is on it, but she doesn’t have the same passion for it that she once had. It will be nice to have next summer off and just enjoy time with her friends and family and go away whenever she likes,” we’re told.
Laura has already set her sights on the future and is keen to branch into acting. In true manifestation style, she recently revealed she’ll be making her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story in September, and will also be fronting new ITV factual series Laura Whitmore Investigates. “Laura wants to be taken more seriously and do more acting roles and hard-hitting shows. After the end of Celebrity Juice, she felt the time was right for a big career change."