We tried and it didn’t work: Maya Jama and Stormzy announce second break-up

Maya Jama and Stormzy have announced their second break-up, saying “we tried and it didn’t work, and that’s okay”.

The rapper, real name Michael Omari, began dating TV star Jama in 2014, before the pair broke up for the first time in 2019, but then attempted to rekindle their relationship in August 2023.

Now the pair have announced they have broken up again, in a joint statement posted on Instagram.

The statement read: “We’ve been laughing whilst drafting this because we never, ever in a million years thought we’d be the couple announcing a break-up.

“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.

“We fell madly in love in 2014, broke up in 2019, and then spent five years manoeuvring life apart.

“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, so this final attempt required a whole lot of figuring out, relearning and unlearning.

“We tried and it didn’t work and that’s okay.

“We still think the absolute world of each other, we still care and respect each other, we are still grateful for the time we’ve had together, and we are still friends and will always be friends (so if you see us having a lil catch-up at the Brits or something, don’t cause a fuss, we are dawgs).

“Announcing this feels so dramatic, but we’re doing it so that it kind of takes away the drama and avoids speculation and rumours.

“We’re kindly asking for the grace to let both of us keep it moving and not be bothered about it (we highly doubt this will work, but we’re still kindly asking anyway).

“Love you guys and thank you for all the love you’ve showered us with, it’s been beautiful.”

Love Island presenter Jama began her career presenting a travelogue covering the 2014 World Cup in Brazil for the Copa90 football YouTube channel, called Maya’s FIFA World Cup Cities, before shooting to national fame on the dating show after replacing Laura Whitmore.

Jama has also presented BBC radio shows and the Brit Awards as well as hosting her own podcast called When Life Gives You Lemons.

Stormzy began his career in 2010, first attracting public attention with the number eight single Big For Your Boots, before rising to worldwide fame with number one single Vossi Bop.

He has gone on to have three UK number one singles and three UK number one albums.

His 2019 song Lessons is said to be about the couple’s first break-up.