Maya Jama steps back from The Masked Singer for reduced role after Love Island exit

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The Masked Singer has confirmed that the celebrity panellist will be taking on a reduced role in the show’s new series, with Jama due to appear in just one episode.

The TV presenter, who made it to the final of The Celebrity Traitors last month and recently quit her hosting job on Love Island, has been a panelist on the ITV reality competition since 2024, having replaced Rita Ora from series six onwards.

It now seems that after three series on the show – which sees the panel attempt to guess the identities of costumed celebrities from their singing voice alone – Jama is stepping back from The Masked Singer.

ITV confirmed to The Independent that Jama will be appearing in just one episode of the new series, which is expected to return early next year. “Audiences can look forward to seeing Maya on the Legends panel in episode 2 of the new series,” a spokesperson said.

“Due to The Masked Singer’s brand new rival panel format, Maya was never scheduled to film all episodes of series 8, airing in 2027.”

In August this year, ITV revealed that The Masked Singer would be introducing a new “wild card” panel of celebrity detectives, led by comedian Alan Carr. They will be competing against the original panel – now rebranded as the ‘Legends’ with Jonathan Ross, Davina McCall, Mo Gilligan and Maya Jama – to try to correctly identify as many of the disguised singers as possible.

The X Factor’s Stacey Solomon will also be joining the show, with the singer and reality star joining Carr’s rival team.

While it’s too early to speculate which stars will be on the Masked Singer panels for future series, it has been reported that Jama will not be back at the ITV show after its 2027 outing.

“Bosses are saying no decisions have been made about the next series – the one that will film in late 2027 and air in 2028 – but insiders say she won’t be returning,” a source told The Sun.

The Independent has contacted Jama’s representatives for comment.

Jama’s exit wouldn’t be a huge surprise given the success she’s had from The Celebrity Traitors – with the presenter having gained over 64,000 followers on Instagram during her time in the Scottish castle turret. Jama was made a Traitor in the first episode and managed to stay undetected until the final, when her fellow remaining contestants chose to banish her at the penultimate roundtable.

Just days after the Celebrity Traitors final, Jama announced that she was quitting her hosting role on Love Island after three years to “throw myself into something new”.

Earlier this month, Jama revealed that she would be working with Netflix, sharing a report by Variety which claimed that she has several new projects in development with the streaming platform. “I can’t give too much away just yet, but I’m so excited for this next chapter. Watch this space!” she wrote on Instagram.

The Masked Singer will return with its new “wild card” panel twist in 2027.