Timeline of Maya Jama and Stormzy’s relationship as they rekindle romance
Maya Jama and Stormzy appear to have gotten back together, nearly four years after they broke up in 2019.
The pair were spotted holding hands while holidaying on Hydra island in Greece over the weekend, much to fans’ delight.
Photographs of the Love Island host and the “Vossi Bop” rapper holding hands while strolling in the sun were published in The Daily Mail and have been shared widely across social media.
It comes after Jama was seen attending All Points East festival last weekend at Victoria Park in London, where Stormzy was the headline act.
They sparked rumours that they had rekindled their romance after they were seen chatting with one another at the festival. Later in the week, both Jama and Stormzy shared individual videos and photos of themselves on holiday, prompting further speculation from fans who believed they were in the same location.
When the couple first got together eight years ago, fans quickly labelled the pair as “relationship goals” and many were devastated when they split up.
Below, we take a closer look at the complete timeline of Stormzy and Jama’s relationship.
2014: Maya Jama and Stormzy meet
Jama and Stormzy met when she was 20 and he was 21 at a Red Bull Culture Clash event in October 2014.
In a joint interview with US Vogue, Jama admitted she “fancied” the rapper from the moment she laid eyes on him, but said that they became friends before they started dating.
“You know, if I’m really honest, I knew I fancied him from the start. But I didn’t want anything yet, because you know, you’re trying to do the whole friend situation at first,” she confessed.
“And then I’d do, like, obvious hints that I fancied him and then take it back because I didn’t know if he definitely liked me. It was a childish phase. Then one day we just kissed and that was that!”
2015: Maya Jama and Stormzy become ‘relationship goals’
By January, the pair had started going out. Both were at the beginning of their careers and did not yet know they would go on to become some of the most famous faces in the UK. Despite their still-rising status, however, fans quickly crowned Stormzy and Jama as a power couple.
Reflecting on this period of their lives in an interview with The Sunday Times, Jama said; “We were so young when we met, just beginning our careers. I was just starting at MTV. He’d not even released a single yet at that point. We were just little babies.”
The couple’s every move was scrutinised by fans and media who couldn’t get enough of them. In another interview with comedian Keith Lemon on his podcast, Shopping with Keith Lemon, Jama said she never felt “like a celebrity couple” with Stormzy despite their huge public profile.
“Everyone else made it like that. We just had a normal relationship. And then everyone was just talking about it,” she recalled in 2020. “We met when we were like 20, before anyone cared about us. So then it was just a normal relationship.
“Basically, I always said it was like a normal relationship but people wanted to look at it more and talk about it more.”
2016-2017: Stormzy writes songs about Maya Jama
As his rap career began to take off, Stormzy penned several songs about his partner, including “Birthday Girl” (2016) and the critically acclaimed “Big For Your Boots” (2017).
Writing on X/Twitter, Stormzy explained that “Birthday Girl” was “for the Mrs”, but added that he wanted “any girl that hears it” to “vibe to it and play it on their birthday also and feel special”.
Jama said a song was “the nicest present you can get from someone because it lasts forever”.
The burgeoning TV personality appeared in the music video for both tracks. “Big For Your Boots” was released in 2017 as the lead single from Stormzy’s debut album Gang Signs & Prayer and peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart.
That same year, Stormzy hinted that he was ready to propose to Jama. He told The Mirror: “I’m still so young but I want to propose, it’s going to happen and I will do it right. She is so sick, she is the best.”
Jama had previously joked about getting married to Stormzy, but had also expressed frustration at being known simply as “Stormzy’s girlfriend”.
She told The Times: “I’m not naive to the fact that when you are woman in the industry, most of the things that people want to talk about are your relationships. It’s different for men. I’d seen that happen to other people.
“I don’t think either of us knew it was going to be such a big thing. We were just: we’re young and in love and we’re going to go for it and work really hard. We’re just together. We never really did red carpets. We didn’t do any of that stuff.”
2018: Maya Jama and Stormzy crowned London’s coolest couple by Vogue
The couple appeared in a joint interview in US Vogue, which described them as a “supremely cool pair”.
At the time, Jama was set to fly to New York to do her first American modelling campaign, while Stormzy was working on his second album.
Asked if they had plans for the future, Jama said: “We’re 23, 24 years old; we don’t make plans! Just carry on floating. We’ll see where it takes us.”
2019: Maya Jama and Stormzy break up
The couple called it quits in 2019, much to the shock and devastation of fans. Stormzy quickly shut down rumours circulating that he had allegedly cheated on the model – although in the following years, he would speak frankly about “mistakes” he made in their relationship.
Jama’s representative told media outlets: “Maya has moved out of their home in south west London. The decision isn’t one she has come to lightly, but ultimately the relationship has come to an end. She wants to focus on her TV and radio career for now.”
Jama unfollowed her now-ex-boyfriend on social media and deleted all photographs of them together from her Instagram.
That year, Stormzy released his album Heavy is the Head, including a song titled “Lessons”, which fans believe alludes to the end of his and Jama’s romance.
In the song, he raps about “the greatest love I ever knew” and said: “I done the dirt and then I figured that you’ll dig it out/ But that’s a coward move, I guess you got me figured out/ I know you’ll never listen now.”
2020: Stormzy opens up about his heartbreak
Despite having split up from the model, Stormzy said in 2020 that he still loved her “wholeheartedly”.
Speaking to radio host Charlamagne, he said: “I’ve never loved anyone how I’ve loved her… I would love to be the man who she needs, I would love to do all the things that make this work. I want to marry her, I want to have her children.”
In a later interview with Louis Theroux, the rapper made it clear that he blamed himself for their breakup. He said: “My break-up, that was probably the biggest catalyst for growth as a man. It was like, ‘OK, you made a mistake and you lose someone you loved, someone you cared for, someone who is special to you’.
“That’s probably the biggest loss a man can have, isn’t it? Away from someone passing away, that’s the biggest loss you can have.”
2021: Maya Jama dates and gets engaged to Ben Simmons
The Don’t Hate the Playaz host began dating NBA star Ben Simmons in spring 2021. They confirmed their relationship in July that year when they were seen kissing at the Wimbledon Tennis Championship.
The basketball star proposed to Jama in December 2021 with a huge diamond ring reportedly worth £800,000.
Later, it was speculated that they called off their engagement the following year, in 2022, due to their hectic work schedules.
In January 2023, Jama confirmed that she and Simmons had broken up, stating: “I’m really, really single right now. Newly single. It’s only been a month… but it’s nice.”
2023: Maya Jama and Stormzy spotted holidaying together
On Sunday 27 August, photographs of Jama and Stormzy holding hands while on holiday in Greece were published online, raising fans’ hopes that they have reconciled.
Neither party has publicly confirmed if they are dating again. The photographs show them smiling in the sun with their hands intertwined, with Jama in a black string bikini top and a white skirt, and Stormzy wearing an all-white ensemble.
