‘Heaven’s gained another angel’: Maya Jama reveals her beloved grandfather has died as she pens touching tribute
Maya Jama announced her beloved grandfather has died on Instagram on Tuesday.
The Save Our Summer presenter, 25, took to her stories where she shared throwback photos from her childhood with her late grandparent.
Maya penned heaven has ‘gained another angel’ in a touching tribute to her paternal grandfather.
Devastated: Maya Jama announced her beloved grandfather has died on Instagram on Tuesday
Taking to Twitter to share the sad news, she wrote: ‘RIP Grandad, gained an angel … looking at old photos today & he was such a G. My nan (ayeeyo) is also my twin when she was younger (sic)’
In one photo Maya and her brother Omar cuddled their grandfather, who sat on a chair.
In another, Maya’s grandfather posed for a family photo with her nan, and their children.
Heartbroken: The Save Our Summer presenter, 25, took to her Instagram stories where she shared throwback photos from her childhood with her late grandparent
History: In another, Maya’s grandfather posed for a family photo with her nan, and their children
She wrote: ‘Proper look like my nan. Real g’s immigrated from Somalia and built a life for themselves, started working, started a family, bought a house.
‘Pretty sure they were the first Somalian’s living in Bristol’.
Before she hit the big time as a Radio One presenter, Maya had a tough upbringing in Bristol with a father who was in and out of prison.
She was also caught up in a personal tragedy following the death of her boyfriend Rico Gordon when she was 16.
Her inspiration: Maya wrote: Real g’s immigrated from Somalia and built a life for themselves, started working, started a family, bought a house’
Always in our memory: The presenter shared a picture of the sky alongside the caption ‘RIP Grandad’
Maya was in a relationship with Rico who was caught in the crossfire of a gunfight between two rival gangsters in her home city of Bristol.
As a child, Maya previously recalled how she would answer the door to police searching for her father – and reveals she felt guilty after telling officers he was hiding under a bed, which led to his arrest.
Maya said he was ‘banged up’ for several short sentences having injured people in violent brawls.
Candid: Before she hit the big time as a Radio One presenter, Maya had a tough upbringing in Bristol with a father who was in and out of prison
During a documentary aired in 2018, Maya recalled a conversation with her aunt, her dad’s sister, explaining: ‘I asked her lots about their childhood; whether anything happened to him that made him the way he was.
‘But she said, no, they were a very close family. There were five children and they were all treated the same, and everyone else is fine.
‘They were educated in a school where most of the kids were white – their family was one of the first Somali families to settle in Bristol – so maybe that had something to do with it, but I can’t be certain.’
Maya has since gone on to great success, recently stepping down from her role as BBC Radio One presenter.
The star has been presenting Save Our Summer alongside Peter Crouch on Saturday nights.
Grandfather would be proud: The star has been presenting Save Our Summer alongside Peter Crouch on Saturday nights