Love Island host Maya Jama wears a bold yellow dress as she heads to a wine bar

She will be appearing on screens as the new Love Island host for the first time on Monday. 

And Maya Jama, 28, looked absolutely incredible as she was pictured heading to a wine bar in South Africa with the rest of the cast and crew on Wednesday. 

Wearing a bold yellow sundress with a low-back and Gucci flip-flops, fun-loving Maya carried her questions in hand after a long day of filming. 

She had a smile on her face after filming pre-recorded sections of the show and stood out with a slick of bold berry lipstick. 

When not busy working, no doubt Maya and the rest of the team are making the most out of  the picturesque and quaint rural town of Franschoek where the show is filmed. 

The presenter, 28, took to her Instagram Stories on Wednesday to share stunning bikini-clad selfies and ‘words of wisdom’ ahead of the ITV dating show kicking off.

In an array of posts, Maya said she has got ‘anything’ she ever really ‘wanted in life’ and said she is trying to ‘enjoy what’s happening right now’ rather than looking to the future.

She went on to share her ‘words of wisdom’ with her followers, urging them to write down or pray for their goals and ‘believe’ that they deserve it.

Maya also shared an insight into her trip to South Africa, where she has jetted out to for the ninth series of Love Island, with a slew of bikini-clad selfies.

She penned: ‘A morning thought. Sounds a bit wild but anything I’ve ever really wanted in life I’ve got but I don’t know what I want next for the first time so this is new. 

‘I’m in my “enjoy what’s happening right now and think about what’s next later” bag currently.’

‘Speak out/write down/pray for what you want, work hard for it, know you believe and deserve it,’ she continued.

‘Walk away from it if it doesn’t make you feel good and don’t settle for anything that doesn’t align with it. Applies to almost anything you desire.’

‘Also a side note, you can’t be a p***k and expect good things to keep happening either lol. I live by the “don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to you” rule.’

She concluded: ‘It’s easy to know if you’re doing something bad if you put yourself if someone who could be on the receiving end’s shoes. OK that’s enough of the words of wisdom stuff.’ 

Maya also shared her joy as she takes on her new job, posting a stunning selfie alongside the caption: ‘Very happy little bunny. God is cute.’

The Glow Up presenter also shared a photograph of her Love Island dressing room as she got to work ahead of Monday’s winter series launch. 

Maya has taken over the coveting Love Island hosting gig from Laura Whitmore and is preparing to make her debut as Love Island host at the coveted villa in South Africa.

Admitting she has been a fan of Love Island for years, Maya recently described the show as fun because it is like watching previous ‘holiday romances’ ‘on telly’.

Talking about what she has always loved about the show as a viewer, Maya explained that it was the first reality show other than Big Brother that she made sure she was back home at to be able to watch.

‘Everyone gets involved, everyone has opinions – from the older people in your family to the younger ones,’ she explained.

‘It’s just fun, it’s fun to see how people play out in different situations and wonder what you would do if you were in the same position.

‘Most of us have had a bit of a holiday romance before and it’s like watching that on telly.’

And specifically on the topic of wanting to see Casa Amor on this series, Maya added: ‘I feel like that’s one of the best moments.

‘We’d all secretly want to know what our partner gets up to when they’re on a lads’ or girls’ holiday.’

Maya, who has recently insisted she is ‘really, really single’, has previously dated rapper Stormzy and only last year called off her engagement to NBA star Ben Simmons.

Ben popped the question over the festive period in 2021, according to reports, after a whirlwind seven-month romance.

Her relationship with Stormzy, who she dated for four years, came to an end in 2019, with Stormzy previously confessing to ‘disrespecting’ and being ‘inconsiderate’ towards her.

And the presenter, 28, called things off with basketball player Ben, 26, in August last year to focus on her career.

Maya will be hosting her first ever series of Love Island after her predecessor Laura Whitmore quit following the summer season in 2022.

In an interview last month, Laura took a swipe at Love Island as she claimed that she would still be fronting the show if she’d had more freedom in her role. 

She admitted: ‘If I could [have done] things the way I wanted to, I’d probably still be doing it.’ 

She said she struggled to remain impartial while working on the show, admitting she sometimes wanted to voice her opinion on what had happened in the villa and ask the Islanders how they were coping following their stay.

The TV star replaced Caroline Flack as the host of the ITV dating show when she stood down in December 2019. Caroline tragically took her own life aged 40 in February 2020.

Laura – who is mother to a 20-month-old daughter with Love Island voiceover star Iain Sterling – took to social media after this year’s summer season to detail her decision, admitting she found flying back and forth from the villa ‘very difficult’. 

In her statement, Laura said she was only planning to fill in for Caroline for one series, emotionally saying that she hope she did her late friend ‘proud’.