Maya Jama spoke candidly about her love life as British Vogue’s August cover star.
The presenter, 28, has been in high profile relationships, previously engaged to NBA star Ben Simmons and dating Stormzy.
Her romance with the British rapper in particular drew attention, with fans championing two children from immigrant families and their success story.
Maya, who is half Swedish and half Somali, said of the reaction to her romance with Stormzy, who is of Ghanaian descent: ‘None of us really knew the level of importance it held to a certain group of people, us being together.
‘We were both super ambitious. We were both from similar upbringings and we were both just little grafters that have made something good of ourselves.’
Maya Jama laid bare: The star reflected on her split from Stormzy, how she copes with break ups and yearning to find ‘real love again’ as she posed topless for British Vogue
Representation: Maya dated Stormzy for four years until 2019 and when questioned about her break up, she mused, ‘It was lovely when it was lovely, and then you move’
The pair split in 2019 after four years and when questioned about her break up, she mused: ‘It was lovely when it was lovely, and then you move.’
Detailing how she copes with break ups, Maya confessed: ‘Yeah, I’ve got that harshness. I don’t want revenge, I just want you to always feel like, “I’m so f**king sad I’ve lost them.” You’re going to miss my presence based on my absence.
‘The best thing you can do is try and do everything that made you happy before you met them.’
Despite her heartbreak, Maya revealed she hasn’t been put off dating again.
Asked if she still wants love, she revealed: ‘Yeah. Actual love. That’s all I ever want. Just real love. I want a best friend that I’m in love with. And I have had that before.’
Yet while she’s open to dating, Maya revealed she be turning to her own show to find The One, laughing off the idea of appearing on Love Island.
‘I would not be able to, at any age, strut out of the house in a bikini in front of men that are judging me based on just one sentence and what I look like,’ she admitted.
‘The confidence of the people that go on! They’ve got a different kind of juice.’
Shock: Surprisingly, Maya confessed she didn’t used to get much male attention and ‘was not even considered remotely hot my whole school years’
Stay away: With being a public figure she finds herself under constant scrutiny and she tries to stay away from social media and the cruel comments it contains
Surprisingly, Maya confessed she didn’t used to get much male attention and ‘was not even considered remotely hot my whole school years’.
As for the public interest in her dating life, Maya revealed she prefers to keep things quiet, noting: ‘I’m not someone that puts all my business out there.
‘I’ve never really offered up my personal life, I’ve just done my job and that’s kind of come with it. So I think I do have a right to keep some bits private.’
As for being in the public eye, she admitted she’s aware she divides opinion, saying: ‘The people that do really like me, I feel like they see a bit of themselves in me.
‘And then the other people are like, “Who the f**k is this bitch and what does she even do?”‘
With being a public figure she finds herself under constant scrutiny and she tries to stay away from social media and the cruel comments it contains.
Maya recalled: ‘I always thought my teeth were all right, never blinked an eye, and then I read a tweet saying, “I really love that Maya’s kept her natural teeth and not fixed them.”
‘My number one rule is don’t look at comments, but I had a relapse. Maybe it’s because you don’t have to show your photo, or you don’t have to show your name, but there is just this huge, huge community of people that are just f**king horrible, horrible people.
‘And they all combine in this little space and they believe everything they read and they think everyone’s disgusting. I got called something like broken home b***h!’
See the full feature in the August issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 18 July.
Out soon: See the full feature in the August issue of British Vogue, available via digital download and on newsstands from Tuesday 18 July
