Inside Maya Jama and Stormzy’s romance – from bling home with £15K guard dog to his ‘biggest mistake’
HE said losing longtime girlfriend Maya Jama was the “biggest mistake” of his life - and now it seems Stormzy may have won her back.
The pair, who were seen looking cosy at the GQ awards this week, are rumoured to have rekindled their romance three years after their shock split.
A source said: “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.”
The news - which comes weeks after Stormzy poured his heart out during an interview with Louis Theroux - will delight fans of the glamorous duo.
The platinum-selling rapper told the documentary host: “It was like, OK, you made a mistake and you lose someone you loved, someone you cared for, someone who is special to you. That’s probably the biggest loss a man can have, isn’t it?
"Away from someone passing away, that’s the biggest loss you can have."
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He added that the split turned him from “a boy to a man”.
So has his newfound maturity persuaded Love Island host Maya to give the relationship a second chance?
Stormzy - real name Michael Omari - was just 22 when he met Maya, then 21, at a Red Bull Culture Clash event in October 2014.
They started dating four months later but she admits the relationship started in a “childish” way.
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"If I’m really honest, I knew I fancied him from the start,” she said.
“But I didn’t want anything yet, because you’re trying to do the whole friend situation first, and then I’d do 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!"
Maya was then at the beginning of her blossoming presenting career - and although he had a huge following within the underground music scene, Stormzy was yet to release his first single.
She later told the Mo Gilligan show that the early days of their relationship were not “famousy” and they could keep the romance relatively low key.
Luxurious house and £15k dog
When she turned 22 in 2016, Stormzy declared his love for Maya with a song, Birthday Girl, with the lyrics: “Lots of love. Love you always.”
Split rumours plagued the couple in 2018, with pals claiming Maya was fed up with “mates playing Xbox, smoking and ordering takeaways at all hours".
But the rumours appeared to be false when the couple moved out of the flat they shared in South West London and bought a stunning house, boasting a huge open-plan kitchen opening out onto a large garden.
They also became parents to Rottweiler Enzo, a guard dog which reportedly cost £15,000.
Sharing a rare insight into her life, Maya told The Sunday Times Magazine that phone time was limited when they were spending time together.
“We’ve tried to set a two-hour limit, but that’s difficult when it’s your main contact for work and friends,” she revealed. “As soon as I get home the telly goes on.”
'The One'
Stormzy was convinced he’d found ‘the one’ and hinted at marriage.
“I’m still so young but I want to propose, it’s going to happen and I will do it right,” he said at the time.
“She is so sick, she is the best.”
That same year Maya landed her Radio 1 show, and in 2019 Stormzy, who already had the number one album Gang Signs and Prayers under his belt, smashed the UK singles charts with Vossi Bop, Heavy is the Head and Take Me Back to London with Ed Sheeran.
At home though, Maya said their relationship was “chilled”.
“When we are chilling at a friend's house or at home, it doesn’t feel high profile,” she said. “We just do normal s***."
Shock split
As the Grime star’s career soared, Maya admitted she was frustrated by trolls who called her a “gold-digger”.
She tweeted in July 2019: “As women we are taught to be respectful, quiet and humble n not brag an all this stuff. Humble is great but sometimes I see a comment like 'gold digger' an I wanna scream I WILL BUY YOUR MUM’S HOUSE NOW YOU LITTLE TW** I HAVE MY OWN GOLD.”
Her frustration at being overshadowed also spilled over into a chat on Loose Women when she admitted she hated being known as “Stormzy’s girlfriend".
“I’m not ignorant to the fact that a lot of people only know me because of him and only know my name as Stormzy’s girlfriend, but at the same time, I do have a name,” she said.
When the rapper became the first black British solo male to headline Glastonbury in June 2019, Maya was there to support him.
A month later on August 10, they celebrated her 25th birthday with a romantic meal at London’s Sexy Fish and a star-studded party in Hackney.
But just two days later, the couple announced their break-up with Maya moving out of their house, saying she wanted to “concentrate on her TV and radio career".
Stormzy denied rumours he had cheated, but has admitted he “disrespected” her.
'Hard to forgive'
In his break-up track Lessons he hinted at a fling, saying he had “done the dirt” and was “hard to forgive”.
He name-checked his ex and rapped: “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.”
The song also revealed the pair had planned to have a child together.
A year after the split Stormzy admitted he still loved her "wholeheartedly" and was still hoping they would get back together.
"I've never loved anyone how I've loved her,” he said. “I would love to be the man who she needs, I would love to do all the things that make this work. I want to marry her, I want to have her children.”
I've never loved anyone how I've loved her
Stormzy
While he stayed single, Maya had a whirlwind romance with basketball player Ben Simmons.
The pair met in May 2021 and Ben popped the question just months later in December 2021.
But they split in August this year, with a source telling the New York Post: “While they both care for each other so much, they truly gave it their all and realise that they just come from two different worlds.”
With Maya newly single, Stormzy opened his heart in recent interviews.
He told GQ he went on a “deeply spiritual” retreat with pal Adele to Jamaica that “changed his life”.
“It just dawned on me that I had a lot of growing up to do. I feel like that’s when my life changed forever," he said, adding: "I think my break-up with Maya was still really heavy on my heart.
"I'd never experienced a break-up and the feelings that come with a break-up.
"I never wanted to ever be in a position again where I felt what I was feeling. Because it showed me that I was a boy. And I do not want to go any further as a boy.”
In the Louis Theroux chat he said the break-up was "probably the biggest catalyst for growth as a man”.
He admitted to “mistakes” in the way he handled the relationship, adding: “I didn’t do what a man should do to fully appreciate, love and care for his woman.”
Now 29, Stormzy’s declarations of love and regret may have won Maya round.
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While notoriously private Maya, 28, has insisted the pair are “great friends” but she is “very much single”, Stomzy was overheard telling guests at this week’s GQ bash that they were back together.
It looks like the romantic rapper has really learned his Lessons.
