Love Island presenter Maya Jama has sent a message to fans of the 2023 series after season 9 came to an end on Monday, March 13. Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan won the winter edition of the popular ITV2 dating show, beating runners-up Ron Hall and Lana Jenkins in the live final.
Meanwhile, Tom Clare and Samie Elishi came in third and Tanya Mahenga and Shaq Muhammad came in fourth place. You can see exactly how the live final played out here.
This year's series kicked off on Monday, January 16 from a brand new villa in South Africa with Maya Jama at the helm. The host took over presenting duties for the first time after Laura Whitmore left the post following the 2022 summer series.
Read more: Love Island's Olivia Hawkins reacts as Kai Fagan and Sanam Harrinanan win 2023 show
Ever since the 28-year-old, who is a huge fan of the show herself, made her grand entrance to the villa via helicopter during the launch episode, viewers have been obsessed. After her Love Island debut, one fan wrote: "Internally screaming every time I see Maya!!!"
While another said: "Maya absolutely SLAYING." Following the first episode, Maya made many returns to the villa, mainly for brutal dumpings and the famous Casa Amor recoupling episode, as well as hosting Love Island's spin-off show Aftersun every Sunday night.
And the love for the new host has not gone unnoticed, as following the 2023 final, Maya had a message for fans. Thanking them for their support, the presenter tweeted: "Can I just say everyone online who has been so lovely and encouraging throughout you have given me all the energy and love and I hope I made you all proud."
It comes after Maya confirmed she would be returning to Love Island hosting duties in the summer, when the second series of the year airs. Speaking on ITV1's The Jonathan Ross Show last weekend, Maya said: "Im going to be doing the summer one."
Joking that she couldn't reveal the start date, Maya added: "It starts in… summer." Speaking about her Love Island debut for series nine, Maya told Jonathan Ross: "I was so nervous. Obviously, it's a very big show, everyone watches it, everyone's got an opinion and quite a lot of people online were like, 'We want Maya to host'.
"So it felt a bit like, I don't want to let anyone down. I don't want it to be like, 'You guys wanted me to do it and now I'm s***’. So I felt that pressure. And to get the slow-motion walk right…" For more showbiz and television stories get our newsletter here.
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