📺 Maya Jama quits Love Island; alleged sponsor email named her

Maya Jama said on Instagram on Sunday, Nov. 8 (first reported at 2:26 PM ET) that she is stepping down as host of Love Island after nine series and three years, according to the Mirror and Radio Times. Then the plot thickened. The Daily Mail reported on Nov. 9 that ITV appears to have been blindsided, because an email allegedly from Love Island staff told potential sponsors just last week that she was returning.

Who says what

The Daily Mail says the email was headlined 'flight: 2027' and read: 'Maya Jama returns to host as a cast of iconic ex-Islanders head back to paradise for another chance at love.' It was pitching pre-roll placements before official show clips shared from the @LoveIsland handle on X. The Daily Mail credits the screenshot to the account TV Zone, which wrote: 'Awkward. Last week ITV told potential sponsors that Maya would be returning.' The Daily Mail's own word for the email is 'allegedly', and no report read here confirms it independently.

The timeline gets one more entry from The Sun, which quotes a source saying: 'ITV only learnt Maya was leaving in the last few days, just before she announced it, as Maya made the decision last week.' That is one outlet's anonymous source, so treat it as a claim, not a finding. The Daily Mail and The Sun also both quote a source saying execs 'went to great lengths' to keep her, including pushing the January schedule back.

"But I've always believed that to truly grow, you have to take a leap every now and then, and now is my time to throw myself into something new."

Maya Jama, Instagram statement, as quoted by Radio Times

The money on record

The pay angle is thin, and the thinness is itself a finding: none of the reports read states what Jama earned from Love Island. What the Daily Mail does cite is Companies House. It says filings show her firm, MIJ & Co Entertainment Ltd, was worth more than £4million after debts, up from £2.63million the year before. The Daily Mail also quotes her saying in 2024 that she wanted 'to make a lot more money first' before retiring at 40. Those are company accounts and a quote, not a Love Island salary.

The response

Jama's response is her Instagram statement, in which she thanks fans and the production team and says it is her 'time to step down'. ITV's response, via a spokesman quoted by the Daily Mail and an ITV spokesperson quoted by AOL, thanks her and wishes her success. That statement does not mention the sponsor email. The Daily Mail says it has contacted ITV and Jama for comment, and no reply on the email appears in the reports read.

What happens next

The Daily Mail reports that ITV will announce a replacement in the coming weeks, with Love Island: All Stars due in South Africa in January. The Sun says its source expects meetings with potential hosts within days and adds that 'no decisions have been made nor formal talks undertaken'. Coral's 2/1 odds make Olivia Attwood the bookmaker favourite, per the Daily Mail. Odds are not appointments.

Backstory

Jama took over from Laura Whitmore in January 2023, per the Daily Mail. In July she told Deadline: 'I never decide if I'm doing the next series until the end of one. So it's fake news that I'm leaving.' That quote predates the exit, and it sits awkwardly beside a sponsor pitch that, if genuine, assumed she was coming back. MissDrama notes only that both can be true: a host can decide late, and a sales team can pitch early. Reunion shows have been built on less.

As of Nov 9, 8:04 AM ET, confirmed on the record: Jama announced her exit on Instagram, and ITV's spokesman thanked her in a statement. Pending: whether the sponsor email is genuine and when it was sent, what ITV knew and when, who replaces her, and any Love Island pay figure. No source read answers any of those.