Are Maya Jama and Stormzy back together? Rumours explained - was Love Island presenter engaged to Ben Simmons

The love lives of celebrities have always been something of a public fascination, especially when it comes to a former couple potentially getting back together once again - as is the case for new Love Island presenter Maya Jama and rapper Stormzy, who have seen the rumour mill start turning after being spotted at the 2022 GQ Men of the Year event.

A number of famous faces were in attendance at the awards ceremony in London, including rapper Aitch and Little Simz, as well as actors like Will Poulter (Midsommar, We’re the Millers), Paul Mescal (Normal People, The Lost Daughter) and Emma D’Arcy (House of the Dragon, Truth Seekers), however it was Jama and Stormzy’s reunion that has left people talking.

This is everything you need to know.

Are Maya Jama and Stormzy back together?

Jama and Stormzy have sparked relationship rumours after the pair were seen together at the GQ Men of the Year 2022 awards in London on Wednesday (16 November) evening. Sources who were also at the event have claimed to have seen the two talking in a quiet corner.

One told the Sun: “Stormzy and Maya are together again, they’re taking it slow but are very much back in each other’s lives after a long time when they didn’t speak or see each other.”

Another added: “They spent loads of time together at the afterparty and were chatting in a corner for ages. It seemed as though they went somewhere else together afterwards because she walked out and then he followed her out five minutes later.”

However, Jama’s team has confirmed to the Mirror that the two are not romantically involved with one another.

When did they date?

Jama and Stormzy were together between 2015 and 2019, after the two first met in October 2014 at the Red Bull Culture Clash.

In an interview with Vogue in February 2018, Jama said: “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.”

In 2016, Stormzy penned a song about Jama for her 22nd birthday, aptly titled Birthday Girl, and the next year Jama starred in the music video for Stormzy’s hit song Big For Your Boots.

Around March 2018, Jama and Stormzy moved out of the flat they shared in London and bought a home together. Taking the next step in starting their new life, they also got a pet dog as well, called Enzo.

Stormzy even hinted at wedding bells in 2018, when he told the Sunday 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.”

The news of their breakup came as a surprise to fans as Jama and Stormzy had celebrated Jama’s 25th birthday together just a few days prior. Despite allegations that Stormzy had cheated in Jama, the rapper has always denied the accusations.

Stormzy apologised to Jama for how their relationship went in his song Lessons, featured on his second album Heavy is the Head which was released in December 2019.

In the song, Stormzy raps: “Fast forward now, my nephew’s still asking for his Auntie Maya / Guess this is karma for what I done to Maya.”

At another point, he says: “Greatest love I ever knew, I poured it down the drain / Maybe it’s the only way we both call it a day / You gave me the world and then I gave you disrespect / Hand on my heart, this is my biggest of regrets.”

Speaking about the song on the BBC Radio 1Xtra show the day of the album’s release, Stormzy said: “I’m going on record now and I’m apologising. It was a public disrespect that needed a public apology. That girl gave me the world. I will wholeheartedly saw that’s a phenomenal woman.”

Is Maya Jama dating anyone now?

Following her split from Stormzy in 2019, Jama started dating NBA player Ben Simmons in 2021. Simmons reportedly proposed to Jama over the Christmas holidays that year, with Jama spotted wearing an engagement ring in January 2022.

A source told the Sun: “Ben adores Maya and has fallen head over heels for her. He picked up the ring on Jewelers’ Row in the diamond district of Philadelphia the day before he proposed. He chose the ring himself and he felt he knew exactly what she would want. Maya said yes and they’re both thrilled.”

However, eight months after getting engaged, Jama and Simmons called it quits due to difficulties regarding their busy schedules and trying to maintain a long distance relationship. A source told the NY Post that it was “one of the hardest decisions of their lives” and that “while they both care for each other so much, they truly gave it their all and [realised] that they just come from two different worlds”.