Maya Jama shares an adorable throwback snap of her aged 11 sat at the wheel of a car

She has been mourning the death of her beloved grandfather this week.

And Maya Jama was feeling nostalgic on Friday as she shared a series of throwback photos on Instagram.

The presenter, 25, looked almost unrecognisable as she posed at the wheel of a car when she was 11. 

The radio star, who grew up in Bristol, smiled and made a hand gesture as she sat in the front seat of the red vehicle.

Maya then went on to share further throwback snaps on her Instagram stories, and reminisced about her youth. 

She said: ‘We actually used to go to under-18 raves sometimes, I think I was just about to turn 12, it was year 7 times.’

‘We would all wear polo shirts and matched white laces to the white trainers.’ 

In the later throwbacks, Maya showed herself posing outside a club wearing white suspenders with a friend.

She then posted a heartwarming photo with her brother and her uncle cuddling each other on the sofa.  

Earlier this week, Maya took to her Instagram stories where she shared more throwback photos from her childhood with her late grandparent.

Maya penned heaven has ‘gained another angel’ in a touching tribute to her paternal grandfather.  

Also 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, while 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.

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. 

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.