‘I didn’t ever feel like a celebrity couple’: Maya Jama says dating Stormzy was ‘normal’ because they met before finding fame
They spent much of their relationship in the public eye as their individual careers went from strength to strength.
But Maya Jama insists there was never any awkwardness or weirdness surrounding her relationship with grime artist Stormzy because they met before finding fame.
The radio DJ and TV presenter was just 20-years old and a relative unknown when she first met the London based rapper, real name Michael Omari Owuo Jr, in 2015 – two years before the release of his BRIT Award winning debut album Gang Signs and Prayer.
Normal couple: Maya Jama insists there was never any awkwardness or weirdness surrounding her relationship with grime artist Stormzy because they met before finding fame
They would go on to enjoy a four year relationship before separating in 2019, but she insists that it never felt as if they had been thrown together by fame because their careers took off at the same time.
Appearing on the latest episode of Shopping with Keith Lemon, she said: ‘I didn’t ever feel like a celebrity couple. Everyone else made it like that. We just had a normal relationship. And then everyone was just talking about it.
‘We met when we were like 20, before anyone cared about us. So then it was just a normal relationship.
‘Basically, I always said it was like a normal relationship but people wanted to look at it more and talk about it more.’
Close: The radio DJ and TV presenter was just 20-years old and a relative unknown when she first met the London based rapper, real name Michael Omari Owuo Jr, in 2015
The former couple shared a home together in London before confirming the end of their relationship in August 2019.
Maya’s representative told MailOnline at the time: ‘I can confirm the relationship has ended and Maya has separated from Stormzy.’
A source close to the DJ added that she had already moved out of the home they shared in South West London, telling The Sun: ‘The decision isn’t one she has come to lightly, but ultimately the relationship has come to an end.
Old times: Maya and Stormzy enjoyed a four year relationship, but she insists that it never felt as if they had been thrown together by fame because their careers took off at the same time
‘She wants to focus on her TV and radio career for now.’
The pair first went public with their romance in 2016 after initially keeping their relationship private, and have made no secret of their commitment to each other.
Stormzy previously said he planned to marry Maya, telling the Sunday Mirror in February 2018: ‘I’m still so young but I want to propose, it’s going to happen and I will do it right. She is so sick, she is the best.’
Independent woman: Maya has dated since ending her relationship with Stormzy, but is yet to embark on another ling term relationship
Meanwhile Maya has been less outspoken about their relationship, and in 2018 out at the fact that she was often referred to as ‘Stormzy’s girlfriend’, calling the term ‘ignorant’.
Speaking on Loose Women about wanting to break out of his shadow, she explained: ‘I think sometimes but I’m not ignorant to the fact that a lot 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.
‘It happened to me once at the National Television Awards some girl came over to me and said ‘Stormzy’s girlfriend’ and I said ‘My name is Maya’.
‘It then went really silent and awkward… I can’t get angry but I do think it is a little ignorant.’