Maya Jama insists there's 'a lot of frauds' in TV industry who are 'evil' and 'mean' off camera and reveals how she secured Love Island hosting job after previously being rejected
Maya Jama has insisted that there are 'a lot of frauds' working in television, who are only friendly when the cameras are rolling.
The presenter, 30, appeared on her pal Chunkz's podcast, The Chunkz Show, where she opened up on career and how she secured the coveted Love Island hosting role.
As Chunkz praised her for being so down-to-earth and nothing like the preconceived ideas people had about celebrities, Maya insisted: 'There are a lot of frauds.'
Fellow TV personality Laurence McKenna chimed in to say: 'But also it's okay to be a presenter who is very friendly on camera and a bit reserved off camera.'
But Maya was quick to cut in: 'Reserved yes, but b***h? There's some people who are evil off camera!'
Keeping tight-lipped on who she was referring to, she added that she'd worked with people who acted differently after the cameras cut.
She explained: 'A lot of people have been exposed like that. I won't say any names but on big telly, people have been caught on their mikes being like mean.'
Elsewhere, Maya also reflected on her role as the host of Love Island, revealing that she had got the job after previously being rejected for being 'younger than the Islanders'.
She recalled: 'It was crazy because I was a fan of the show, I used to watch it from series one pretty much, I loved Love Island and obviously they had previous hosts before me.
'I was actually living in America at the time when they wanted to meet about me potentially hosting. They called when I was in America and they were like "Would Maya be interested in hosting?"
'And I was like "Yeah I would be interested. But this is kind of mad because I kind of like accepted I wasn't really going to be a Love Island host".'
She went on: 'I remember once ages ago I wanted to do it and we had a conversation and they were like "She's too young, because she's younger than the Islanders at the time." And I was like "Yeah that's fair enough."
'And I still am the same age as some of the Islanders, but obviously they think I've grown up a little bit now so it makes sense.'
Maya then went on to credit her fans for helping secure her the role, saying: 'So then I came back to London and we just kind of spoke, I didn't audition it was more like a chat.
'But I will big up like Twitter and the public because they were kind of calling for me to host for a long time and I think they did pay attention to like the public, which is lovely.'
Opening up on the show, she admitted: 'I'm not going to lie it is a very lovely job, just in terms of like in January everyone's miserable in England so it's lovely just to get away and be in South Africa.'
And when asked which is her favourite out of the nine seasons she's presented, she confessed: 'My favourite so far, I think I'm allowed to say, the Ella and Tyrique series. It just had me gagged all the time, I'd constantly be like "What what?"'
Giving fans an insight into the behind-the-scenes process, Maya insisted that the producers weren't allowed to tell the Islanders what to do or how to act, as 'it has to be real'.
While she added that she doesn't let them tell her who will be dumped ahead of time, so she doesn't give the game away accidentally.
She explained: 'I also do this technique where I don't let them tell me who is going until I'm literally stood in front of them in my ear.
'Because I don't want to stare at them or give it away. Literally as I say it I find out, one second before everybody else basically.
'I've never said the wrong name or something but like there is cameras constantly around and then they like the dramatic pauses.
'It's always funny with the new Islanders when they're not used to me saying something and pausing for ages, so they're all looking around like "is she like frozen? Why is it so silent?" And I feel so awkward for them!
'But I don't know if it's like illegal or what, but they're not allowed to tell them what to do. The most they can encourage is like "have a little chat..." But it has to be real because it's reality.'
Maya also confessed that she felt protective over the Islanders, saying she had first hand experience of how intense the environment is and how hard it is to be vulnerable on TV.
She said: 'I have such a soft spot for them because obviously watching the show on the outside is one thing, but being there and being around them.
'Your emotions in there, you've got people you like and then there's someone coming in to take them, you've got to like lay your heart on the line, there's millions of people watching.
'I am like my little my shaylas, because I just feel like this is not easy for young people to go and put themselves out like that for one and for two like it can be tough.'
'It's only on Aftersun that I can actually chat to them properly, but in between takes and stuff when I'm in there I will try and be like "are you okay?" or like check in, but you won't you won't see those bits.'
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