Love Island host Maya Jama addresses absence after facing backlash from fans

Maya Jama has officially responded to allegations of absenteeism made by Love Island UK fans.

As a reminder, the much-loved TV presenter, who has hosted the ITV2 dating series since 2023, opened the debut instalment of the 13th series when it kicked off on 7 June. That was 22 days ago.

Since then, a lot has happened. Some couples have split, some have rekindled, and some have been booted off the island entirely. One islander exited the show of his own accord, and just last night, 10 hot new singles landed for the notorious 'Casa Amor' segment of the series, purposed to test the strength of this year's pairings.

Throughout it all, the islanders have been forced to rely on their own judgement for decisions, and haven't yet gained an insight into the views of the outside world.

It's been 22 days since the islanders last saw Maya (Instagram/@mayajama)

As such, viewers have long wondered when hostess Maya might strut into the villa to give the group a wake-up call, whether that be in the form of a bombshell announcement, a plot twist or a shock dumping.

"We are now at the end of week 4 on #LoveIsland and… has anybody seen this woman?" one fan asked last week.

Another asked: "Did they cut the flight budget or something ain’t seen Maya Jama in time!"

"Does Maya Jama still work for Love Island? I don’t remember the last time I saw her," a third hit out.

The 31-year-old faced further backlash just hours ago (29 Jun) after sharing a photo dump on X, captioned: "Heard you missed me.. back on your TV tonight at 9pm #loveisland."

Unfortunately for Maya, however, one critic quickly wrote back in the comments: "You literally haven’t been on since the first episode lol."

The presenter hit back at the criticism (X/@mayajama)

Seemingly having gotten tired of the criticism, the on-screen star shared a savage response to the remark, insisting it's up to producers, not herself, to decide when and how she appears on the show.

"Yeah girl it’s not up to me," Maya penned before quipping: "S**t I missed the villa too."

She issued a similar statement days prior, when another social media user joked about her absence being caused by ITV producers relying on controversial zero-hours contracts.

"WHERE IS MAYA JAMA!! Is she now on flexible working hours orrrrr @MayaJama #LoveIslandUK #LoveIsland or is it a zero hours contract now???" they teased.

"I'll be back in there soon, I promise - I have been dying to get back in there tbh," Maya wrote back.