How long will Maya Jama present Love Island as Ariana Madix takes over as Love Island Games host - could Maura Higgins take over?

The 30-year-old, who first began presenting the main Love Island dating show on ITV 2 back in 2023, has decided she doesn’t want to return to host one of it’s spin off shows - and she’s been replaced by Vanderpump Rules star Ariana Madix.

Jama hosted the first series of Love Island Games on Peacock in 2023. But, it’s been confirmed she will not return for the second series when it airs later this year. The show, which launched in 2023, brought together a total of 26 Islanders from various seasons of the Love Island franchise to compete in a variety of challenges and games. Several UK stars from past Love Island series participated - including Curtis Pritchard, Georgia Steel, Megan Barton Hanson, Liberty Poole, Scott Van-der-sluis, Jack Fowler, and Toby Aromolaran. But, the show was ultimately won by Jack Fowler from Love Island UK season 4, and Love Island USA 2 star Justine Ndiba.

Ariana, aged 40, will be the new host of the show when it returns to our screens later this year - but she’ll be familiar with viewers. This is because Ariana presented two episodes of the previous series. Plus, she’s also the host of Love Island USA. An announcement from the broadcaster read: "Peacock announce Love Island Games season 2 premieres September 16th, this time with Ariana Madix as host. It’ll see all-star islanders from the UK, USA & Australia return for another game of love."

So, this poses the question of how long Maya will present the main series of Love Island for. The current 2025 series, which is still airing on ITV, is her third. She reportedly decided whether or not she wants to renew her contract year-on-year and season-by-season. So, it’s expected that she’ll make a decision about whether or not she wants to present Love Island 2026 in the coming months - to give ITV time to find a suitable replacement if she decides not to.

If she does decide against returning to the main show also then who could her replacement be? Maura Higgins has been rumoured as a possible contender to become the host of ITV’s biggest dating show, when and if that job becomes available. Maura also has strong connections to the Love Island franchise, just like Maya and Ariana.

The Irish model, 34, rose to fame when she was a contestant on Love Island in 2019, where she ultimately finished fourth alongside then-boyfriend Curtis Pritchard. She then became the host of the Love Island USA spin-off show Aftersun in 2024, but she did not return to this role for this year’s season due to conflicts in her schedule.

Fans were thrilled, however, when she made a surprise return to the show for last night’s (Sunday July 13) final episode. Show narrator Iain Stirling, who also narrates Love Island UK as well as Love Island Games, described Maura as the 'ultimate bombshell' before she reappeared in the villa.

So, if Maya does decide her time on Love Island UK is up, could Maura replace her? Well, it wouldn’t be the first time the two have had very similar presenting roles. Maya hosted seasons three and four of BBC reality show Glow Up: Britain's Next Make Up Star, with Maura going on to present the Irish version of the show which sees aspiring make-up artists battle it out in a bid to be recognised by industry professionals and win a career-starting contract.

While we talk of Glow Up, another possible contender for a future Love Island presenter is Leomie Anderson. The 32-year-old model has presented the beauty-based reality show for three years running now, having taken over from former presenter Maya. So, it is perfectly possible that she could follow in her footsteps again. An ITV spokesperson told NationalWorld, however, that there are no plans for Maya to stop hosting the main Love Island show.

Of course, we’ll have to wait for ITV to announce what Maya’s decision is regarding Love Island UK 2026 in due course, but until then you can watch this year’s series of the show every Sunday to Friday on ITV 2 and ITV X at 9pm.