
Ex-Love Island star Danica Taylor has slammed Laura Whitmore, stating she’s ‘gutted’ Maya Jama didn’t host the last series.
Danica was on last year’s Love Island, which was won by Ekin-Su Culculoglu and Davide Sanclimenti and included Luca Bish and Gemma Owen in the final.
Laura announced her resignation from Love Island in August after three seasons on the show.
Maya, 28, made her presenting debut on the ITV2 dating programme when the winter version in South Africa premiered on Monday night, with 10 singletons entering the villa.
While names like Maura Higgins and AJ Odudu have been floated as possible replacements for Laura, Danica has stated that she “said from the beginning” that it would be Maya.
‘She is absolutely sensational, she just has it.” she continued in an interview with OK! Magazine. “When you think of Love Island, you stereotypically think of the beautiful looking people.”

‘She, for me, fits that better than anyone could fit it, and I’m actually very much gutted that she wasn’t the host of my series.’
‘No disrespect,’ she added, before saying: ‘but it’s bloody Maya Jama’.
This comes after Laura’s husband, Love Island narrator Iain Stirling, expressed his support for Maya as he welcomed her arrival.
‘Maya is absolutely fantastic,’ he enthused, before referring to the moment she strutted into the villa in that *black* dress.
‘Maya has done such a good job. Her slow-mo walks are something else. Great looks.
Iain’s praise comes as recent rumours say that thrilled Love Island producers are anxious to contract Maya for multiple episodes.
A source told The Sun: ‘One thing’s for sure — there will be a lot of urgent conversations around renewing her contract already underway.’

Following the premiere, Maya took to Instagram to thank her followers for their overwhelming support.
She captioned many photos of herself in her already-iconic black cut-out dress, ‘Overwhelmed from last night, thank you so much for your nice thoughts.’
Iain’s wife Laura, who took over as Love Island host after Caroline Flack died, issued a statement on her departure from the show last year.
‘There are certain elements of the show I’ve found very difficult that cannot be changed some due to the format, including the flying back and forth to South Africa along with my new conflicting projects,’ she said at the time.
‘I wish it was still possible but know you’ll be in safe hands,’ Laura added.
‘I was only planning to fill in for Caroline for a series and it turned into three series. I hope I did you proud Caroline.’
Love Island continues tonight at 9pm on ITV2.