Maya Jama asks baffled King during garden party if he watches Love Island

Maya Jama has been praised by fans for her fun and relaxed greeting of King Charles and Queen Camilla while attending a garden party at Buckingham Palace.

Fans were delighted by a video clip that saw the Bristolian Love Island presenter tell the monarch she would soon be flying to Spain to film another series of “young people snogging”. In another clip, she is heard saying “You alright?” to Queen Camilla.

Jama, who is known for her relaxed and chatty presenting style, was attending a special summer party that hosted 4,000 guests from the worlds of film, theatre and entertainment at the palace on Wednesday (15 May).

Jama was among the high-profile guests including Tracy Emin, comedian Lenny Henry, presenter Tess Daly, model Kate Moss and film director Ridley Scott.

In a formal assembly line greeting, Charles shook Jama’s hand before enquiring about what she does, to which the presenter replied: “I host Love Island, I don’t know if you watch that though? It’s a reality dating show.”

Laughing in response, Charles said: “There’s one born every minute.”

The 29-year-old told Charles of the forthcoming series: “I’m just about to go to Spain to film some new young people snog someone. So that’s coming,” to which Charles started laughing.

Earlier in their conversation, Jama apologised for breaking royal protocol the last time they met at a Prince’s Trust event when she accidentally touched him.

“Well, I’ve actually met you before, a long time ago,” she told him. “And I touched you and I wasn’t supposed to. This time I won’t!” she said, as Charles replied: “I don’t mind.”

Fans of the presenter have been praising her for her candid chatter with the royals, despite the very formal occasion.

“Maya, you are brilliant!,” said one fan on X/Twitter, as another added: “You never know, Charles might make time to watch [Love Island] and become a fan!”

One Instagram user said: “When you greet the royals like you’re mates”.

Jama later addressed the exchange on X/Twitter, clarifying that she wasn’t assuming Charles watches the ITV reality dating show.

Quoting a tweet shared by ITV’s Chris Ship, Jama wrote: “You can hear I wasn’t assuming he watched [Love Island] but you never know,” sharing an island emoji.

For the event, the presenter wore a cobalt blue and black dogtooth printed dress by British-Nigerian designer Tolu Coker, and a matching large hat.

In 2023, Jama took over from Laura Whitmore as the new presenter of Love Island, and she got her start in the winter series in South Africa.

She has since gone on to host Love Island Games and Love Island All Stars, as well as the main summer season that airs every June.

Jama began her career as a runner on Jump Off TV, before being given an onscreen slot on the weekly music video countdown. She later went on to be a Rinse FM DJ before moving into hosting prime-time TV and radio shows like Cannonball on ITV, the MOBO Awards and her own BBC Radio 1 slot.

She later became the sole presenter of the BBC Three competition Glow Up: Britain’s Next Make-Up Star, before scoring her role as Love Island‘s host.