Sad news: Stormzy and Maya Jama have split for a second time, ten years after they first started dating. The Love Island presenter, 29, and rapper, 30, shared a statement via social media today - just days after appearing loved up at Glastonbury Festival and the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.
The statement, written by both Maya and Stormzy, read, 'We've been laughing whilst drafting this because we never, ever, in a million years thought we'd be the couple announcing a breakup, but for the sake of clarity and, more importantly, to allow us the space and grace that's needed for us both to be able to navigate this next bit of our lives with peace, we thought it might be best to.'
She added, 'We fell madly in love in 2014, broke up in 2019, and then spent five years manoeuvring life apart.'
During that break up, Maya dated basketball player Ben Simmons and ended up getting engaged to him.
The statement continues, 'We decided to try for the final time in August 2023, and we've spent this past year trying our best to make it work; however, we recently decided to call it quits. We were 21 and 20 when we first met-both at the beginning of our careers-and spent five years growing together and then five years growing separately.'
The former couple added that they would continue to be friends.
Maya and Stormzy first parted ways so they could focus on their separate careers, back in 2019. A source close to Maya told The Sun at the time, '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.'
Stormzy had previously said he wants to marry Maya, telling the Sunday Mirror in February 2018, '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.'
Speaking how their relationship developed, Maya told Vogue in Januarythe following year, '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 first, 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. And then one day we just kissed, and that was that.'
Stormzy, whose real name is Michael Omari Owuo Jr, said last year that he and Maya had kept things intentionally more low key this time round, saying in an interview, ‘We were so public the first time round, somewhere down the line my spirit started resisting… so I’m not gonna speak on it.’ He has, however, name-dropped the Love Island host in his latest song titled Cry No More, where he raps: 'My last albums cold, my new one is fire, I might call it Maya'.