This Morning saw hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary reunited for their first show of 2023, and joining them on the sofa today was new Love Island host Maya Jama.
Explaining what viewers can expect from the new series in South Africa starting in January, Maya said, “I literally go tomorrow! It’s been a massive countdown because you find out ages ago and it’s like ‘not this month’, ‘not the next month or the next’ and now it’s one day away! But I’m really, really excited. The biggest pressure is the slow walk to enter – so [the outfit] has to look good in the wind, you have to be able to move in it, saucy but not too saucy…”
After Maya surprised the hosts with some Love Island merchandise – including bath robes, water bottles and suitcases with their names one – she went on to explain her reaction to being asked to front the popular ITV2 show. She said, “It was a no-brainer because I’m a massive fan of the show and I was like, ‘Yeah, ok… when does it start?’…it’s all a bit of a blur to be honest. But I found out and said, ‘Yes, absolutely!’ and now we’re off to South Africa.”
Alison said, “As soon as I heard it was you Maya, I thought what a great fit.”
On preparing for the series, Maya admitted, “I have always been a big fan but I tried not to do too much research because you want to still be yourself don’t you? And ask the questions you want to know… I’m just going to approach it how I’ve screamed at the telly for years!”
Before admitting her favourite series was the Chris and Kem series. “Just everyone on that series – I felt like there were so many moments that had the whole nation hooked and the show went to the next level.”
Following earlier comments on This Morning during the news review on how Davina McCall would like to see a middle-aged Love Island, Maya said, “I think it should be all ages, get them all in, get the nans and grandads… maybe next time!”
When Maya asked if Alison would go in it herself, Alison smiled, “I don’t know… maybe I would. It is lovely weather…”
Speaking about the new faces of the Love Island podcast and regulars on the Aftersun panel, Indiyah Polak and Sam Thompson, Maya said, “Indiyah from the last series and Sam Thompson from Made In Chelsea – he’s a massive fan and she’s been on the island so it’ll give a new perspective and new opinions because we don’t ever get to hear what it’s like being in there. It’s going to be fun, a whole new revamp.”
When asked if she ever gets a chance to stop and think about how well she’s done in her career, Maya smiled, “Yeah, there are definitely ‘pinch me’ moments, everyone has their dreams, and ‘one day I want to be on telly…’ but you’re like, ‘Is that actually going to happen?’ so you just work loads and one minute you’re like ‘I’m actually doing the things I said I wanted to do’ and that’s amazing but you never really take it in properly.”
To see the full interview visit itv.com/watch/this-morning
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV, STV, UTV and ITVX
