Is Maya Jama a Christian? A look at the Love Island presenter’s faith

Love Island is back. After controversies, multiple suicides and body-positive protests, it’s fair to say that the world has cooled off with its rampant interest in the show. But despite a reduced viewership, the original tropical dating format still commands a comparatively large audience.

At the helm of the “summer of love” is Maya Jama, who took over as presenter from Laura Whitmore earlier this year. Her eye-catching outfits and “tell it like it is” approach made her popular with viewers. But what do we know about the 28-year-old personality’s faith?

“[Penny is] really godly. She taught me to be positive and got me to embrace the important things.”

Maya was born in Bristol in 1994 to her father Hussein Jama, a Somali Muslim and her mother Sadie Jama who was Swedish. Despite her dad’s religion she never embraced Islam and grew up without following a faith.

Maya famously dated rapper Stormzy who is a practicing Christian. The Grammy-winner regularly speaks about Jesus, prayer and his love of God in his music and in interviews. He’s also confirmed that he regularly attends church and hosts a weekly Bible study.

But Maya is less forth coming when it comes to talking about religion, Maya is usually tight lipped and has ignored questions from fans on Twitter about her faith. But in a 2018 Marie Claire interview she did open up about her spiritual life. She explained that when she first moved to London as a teenager she moved in with her friend’s older sister, a woman named Penny who she described as her “guardian angel”.

Maya said that Penny nudged her towards Christianity.

She said: “[Penny is] really godly. She taught me to be positive and got me to embrace the important things; to concentrate on what I needed to focus on. She was my cheerleader. I’m eternally grateful to her. She sort of scooped me up.”

Despite her father’s side of the family practicing Islam, Maya said that Penny nudged her towards Christianity. She explained that she wouldn’t describe herself as a “strict Christian” but did say that she tries to pray every day.