Maya Jama tears up as she tells story of boyfriend who was killed during gunfight
Maya Jama teared up while discussing the death of her first boyfriend, who died in 2011 after being shot.
The TV presenter was just 16 when her teenage boyfriend Rico Gordon was killed by a ricocheting bullet during a gun fight in her home town of Bristol. Gordon was 21.
Jama appears on the new Channel 4 show Foxy’s Fearless 48 Hours With..., in which celebrities are put through a series of physically and emotionally gruelling tasks by SAS: Who Dares Wins star Jason Fox.
In Sunday’s episode (3 October), Jama teared up while talking about Gordon’s death.
“I got to 16 and I met a boy,” she said. “He was killed in the summer I was supposed to move to London — and that was my first love.
“Your whole world just changes as you’re a little girl and you realise, alright, this is adult stuff going on. I was devastated, I was so sad.”
Jama also spoke about her father being sent to jail when she was a toddler for bottling another man.
“I had a situation where my dad was in and out of jail from three. At the time, I didn’t think it bothered me. It was all I knew so that was normal,” she said.
“I don’t like crying about that stuff. I have to laugh or I get emotional. I’m OK now, but obviously I’m sad for my little, younger self that I had to deal with that.”
In the first episode of Fox’s show, Catastrophe star and comedian Rob Delaney took part in a series of challenges in rural Wales.
Foxy’s Fearless 48 Hours With... is available on All 4
If you have been affected by this article, you can contact the following organisations for support: actiononaddiction.org.uk, mind.org.uk, nhs.uk/livewell/mentalhealth, mentalhealth.org.uk.