Inside Maya Jama and Stormzy's relationship as they announce surprise split

Maya Jama and Stormzy have confirmed their split in a heartfelt statement less than a year after rekindling their romance.

The couple delighted fans last year after five years apart – and two seasons of Love Island under Maya’s belt – when they announced their reunion in October, following months of speculation.

The couple won the hearts of the nation when they managed to find each other again. However, their great love story was not meant to last, as they revealed, they “tried their best to make it work” but eventually decided to go their separate ways.

Here’s a look back at the ups and downs of Maya and Stormzy’s relationship:

The couple met at the Red Bull Culture Clash festival in October 2014. At the time, they were relative unknowns: Stormzy had yet to release a single and Maya had just started her first MTV presenting gig, The Wrap Up.

“You know, to be honest, I knew I liked him from the beginning. But I didn’t want anything yet, because you know, you try to do the whole friendship situation at the beginning,” she admitted in a 2018 joint interview for American Vogue.

“And then I would make obvious allusions to him that I liked him, and then I would take it back because I didn’t know if he really liked me. It was a childish phase. Then one day we kissed and that was it!”

A year after meeting, they made their relationship official. That same year, Stormzy’s freestyle “Shut Up” propelled him to fame, eventually reaching number 8 in the UK Singles Chart.

Simultaneously, Maya’s broadcasting career took off as she hosted shows for BBC Radio 1, appeared as a guest on Keith Lemon’s Celebrity Juice and began fronting beauty campaigns, including with Aussie Shampoo.

Maya and Stormzy pose for photos at the 2017 Elle Style Awards

Dave Bennett

Reflecting on that time, she shared during a 2020 appearance on Shopping With Keith Lemon, “We just had a normal relationship. We met when we were 20, before anyone cared about us.

“So it was a normal relationship. Actually, I always said it was a normal relationship, but people wanted to pay more attention to it and talk about it more.”

In the years since, Stormzy’s career has continued to flourish and he has dedicated several songs to Maya, including Birthday Girl (2016) and Big For Your Boots (2017), both of which feature her in their music videos.

In 2017, the Croydon rapper expressed his deep affection for her in an interview with The Mirror, saying: “I’m still so young but I want to propose, it’s going to happen and I’m going to do it right. She’s so sick, she’s the best.”

So when news of the couple’s split broke in 2019, five years after they first met, fans were devastated.

Days after Stormzy attended her 25th birthday party at an east London bar, Maya deleted all of their Instagram posts and a representative for the star confirmed to the media that: “Maya has moved out of their home in south-west London. She has not taken this decision lightly, but ultimately the relationship has come to an end. She wants to focus on her TV and radio career for now.”

Following their split, the South London artist released his second album Heavy Is The Head, which appeared to include references to his breakup with Maya on the track Lessons, leading to rumours he had cheated.

Quickly dispelling that narrative in early 2020, Stormzy shared during an appearance on HOT 97: “If there was a box of what a good woman is, she ticks all the boxes, she’s amazing. But I didn’t cheat on her. In fact, I didn’t cheat on her. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still definitely an asshole. 100%, that’s a fact. I am an asshole. But I thought it was a good time to say that I didn’t cheat on my ex.”

The couple photographed in 2017

Dave Bennett

Rapper Vossi Bop also made no secret of his desire to rekindle their relationship in the same interview. When asked if he still loved his ex Maya, he replied: “Yes, definitely, with all my heart.”

That same year, he also told radio host Charlamagne Tha God: “I’ve never loved anyone like I’ve loved her… I want to be the man she needs, I want to do whatever it takes to make her successful. I want to marry her, I want to have her children.”

During their four-year split, Maya moved on, even getting engaged to NBA star Ben Simmons in December 2021 after seven months of dating. However, they split in August 2022, citing their demanding work schedules as the reason. She was even linked to actor Leonardo DiCaprio, but denied the reports on her social media, telling her fans last April: “Move on.”

Outside of her personal life during these years, the TV star has launched her own skincare line MIJ, collaborated with Pretty Little Thing and JD Sports, and landed the coveted role of presenting Love Island in 2022, presenting its first series last January.

Meanwhile, Stormzy focused on his music after his headlining set at Glastonbury and released his Brit Award-nominated album This Is What I Mean in 2022. However, three years after their breakup, he continued to release music that may not have directly referenced Maya, but was supposedly inspired by her.

Her second single, Firebabe, which is about the power of that first initial spark when you meet someone you love, features revealing lyrics: “She stood there in her dress, And she looked like an angel, Her eyes took my breath away.”

That same year, Stormzy was still speaking about their breakup, saying it was “probably the biggest catalyst” for his growth as a person. Appearing on an episode of Louis Theroux Interviews… in October 2022, he shared: “It was like, OK, you made a mistake and you lose someone you loved, someone you cared about, someone who’s special to you. It’s probably the biggest loss a man can suffer, right? Away from someone passing away, it’s the biggest loss you can suffer.”

Stormzy has opened up about his and Louis Theroux’s 2022 split from Maya

BBC/Mindhouse

He also revealed that he “did not do what a man should do to fully appreciate love and care for his wife.”

It’s not just the MOBO winner who has spoken out about their split during their time apart, but Maya who has said that neither she nor Stormzy fully understand how important their relationship is to fans.

Looking back on their time together, she told British Vogue in August 2023: “Neither of us really knew how much it mattered to a certain group of people that we were together. We were both very ambitious. We both had similar upbringings and we were both working girls who made something good of ourselves. It was beautiful when it was beautiful, and then you move on.”

Even though she hinted that she had moved on, it seemed like there was still a spark between them.

Speculation that the couple were rekindling their relationship began swirling after they were spotted at her gig at All Points East festival in East London over the August bank holiday weekend. A week later, eagle-eyed fans put their investigative skills to work when they noticed that the background of each of their holiday photos bore a striking similarity and that they were actually holidaying together at the same villa in Hydra, Greece. Shortly after, paparazzi snapped photos of the two holding hands during their not-so-secret holiday.

The couple finally confirmed their relationship last October after months of reports when Jama posted an adorable Instagram story of Stormzy picking her up from the airport after she finished filming the Love Island spin-off, Love Island Games.

The couple confirmed they got back together last October.

Instagram/Maya Jama

In the post, the musician sweetly held up a banner that read “Maya Jama #1 Fan” next to a photo of herself with red hair from her Dolce & Gabbana campaign. Behind the camera, she could be heard saying, “You’re so cute! Thank you! Put it down now… I’m shy.”

The following month, they made their first public appearance together, attending British Vogue’s Forces for Change party.

Stop a second time

On Wednesday, the couple announced they had ended their relationship, less than a year after rekindling their romance.

In an Instagram statement shared on their respective Instagram Stories, the couple revealed that they had split again, admitting to having spent the last year trying to “make it work.”

The post began: “We laughed as we wrote this because we never, ever, in a million years thought we would be the couple announcing a breakup, but for the sake of clarity and, more importantly, to allow each other the space and grace we need to both navigate this next phase of our lives in peace, we thought it might be best to do so.

“We fell madly in love in 2014, broke up in 2019, then spent five years navigating our lives separately.

“We decided to give it one last try in August 2023, and we have spent the last year doing our best to make it happen; however, we have recently decided to stop,” the statement continued.

Declaration of couple breakup

Instagram/Maya Jama

“We were 21 and 20 when we first met, both at the beginning of our careers, and we spent five years growing together and then five years growing apart. So this last attempt took a lot of reflection and relearning and unlearning. We tried, and it didn’t work, and that’s okay.

“We still think the best of each other, we still care and respect each other, we’re still grateful for the time we had together, and we’re still friends and always will be (so if you see us catching up at the Brits or something, don’t make a fuss, we’re guys!).

“Announcing this seems so dramatic, but we are doing it in a way that takes the drama out of it and avoids speculation and rumors. We are kindly asking for the grace to let us both move on and not worry about it (we highly doubt this will work, but we are kindly asking anyway 0).”

“I love you guys and thank you for all the love you gave us, it was beautiful! Mike & MJ x,” he concluded.