A Guide to “Love Island” Presenter Maya Jama’s Dating History

Jama confirmed her romance with American basketball player Ben Simmons with a kiss during Wimbledon in July 2021. The lovebirds moved quickly, with the TV host fuelling speculation she was engaged to the athlete as she flashed a massive diamond ring during a coffee date in Philadelphia in January 2022 on her Instagram stories.

On Valentine’s Day that year, Jama took to her Instagram Story to confirm her engagement with a photo of a necklace with the date “12/18/21” engraved on it.

Unfortunately, following the supposed engagement at Simmon’s lavish £2.7 million New Jersey mansion, the pair struggled with making long-distance work as well as aligning their hectic schedules. A source told the New York Post that “while they both care for each other so much, they truly gave it their all and realise that they just come from two different worlds.” They officially split in August 2022.

In Jan 2023, it was reported in The Sun that Jama had been sent a legal letter demanding she return the £800,000 engagement ring that Simmons gave her last year. The demand was said to have left her shocked.

A representative for Jama confirmed the situation to the Mail Online, stating: “Maya received a request from Ben’s representatives on Friday afternoon, asking her to return the engagement ring that he gave her as a gift last year.

“This was the first time that she has been asked by Ben to return it and, for the avoidance of any doubt, she has never refused to return it. Maya is making arrangements to return the ring to Ben and wishes him all the best.”

Romance rumours between Jama and Drake began when he name-dropped her on Headie One’s song “Only You”. He rapped: “Chubbs might jam this yute for a chain / And give it to a sweet one, called that Maya Jama”, sending the rumour mill spinning.

Following this, Drake allegedly began following Jama on Instagram back in 2018, according to reports, and even sent her private DMs while she was with Stormzy, which went ignored on Jama’s end.

A source told The Sun at the time that Drake “definitely appeared to have a soft spot for Maya”. However, the “Love Island” star was not interested in the rapper, with the source adding: “Maya wasn’t going to entertain any form of contact. Even when she split with Stormzy, it’s not something Maya wanted to pursue, and she has left it.”

Jama’s most famous relationship was with Stormzy, whom she dated for four years beginning in 2015 when she was only 20-years-old. The couple met at a Red Bull Culture Clash event when Stormzy had some underground success and Jama was making waves with MTV, but both were still relatively unknown to the wider public.

The pair parted ways in 2019 to a barrage of speculation that the “Vossi Bop” hitmaker had cheated on her. However, he quickly shut down the speculation on Charlamagne tha God’s YouTube channel in 2020, “Do you know what? I actually didn’t cheat. I swear to God, I didn’t cheat. So we had broken up, and I was out publicly being a rapper, being very inconsiderate to the fact that I’ve just come out of the most public relationship.

“We’d broken up, and I went out, and I acted disrespectfully. I was just out in clubs. I knew the world still thought I was in a relationship and I was out looking like I didn’t give a f**k. . . It didn’t need to be cheating for it to be disrespect.”

They were briefly rumoured to be back together in 2022 after being spotted at the same event. However, Jama’s representatives quickly confirmed the rumours were false, but added that the pair remain “great friends”.

Jama has spoken previously about her boyfriend Rico Gordon, who was tragically killed when she was a teenager during a gun battle in Bristol in 2011 following the St Paul Carnival celebrations.

In an interview with Cosmopolitan, Jama discussed the trauma of losing him: “When I was 16, I went through a lot. With my boyfriend passing, it gave me a fearless approach to things. I felt like life was really short.”

Jama added: “Out of everything that [has] happened in my life, that was a reality check on a massive scale. At 16, you think the world is a fairytale, and it took me out of that. It made me even more determined.”