Maya Jama is thankful she’s recognised as more than just Stormzy’s girlfriend now.
The 25-year-old model-and-actress split from the ‘Vossi Bop’ hitmaker last year after four years of dating and though she always "understood" the interest in the grime superstar, she’s grateful people are now getting to know her and her work in their own right.
She said: "I understood at the time. He was – he is – massive in the public eye and a lot of people didn’t know who I was.
"But now I do feel people know my name separately, and it does feel like I’m coming into my own. It feels like I’m finally getting recognition for my hard work."
And Maya has found it frustrating that people haven’t taken her success seriously because of her high-profile relationship with Stormzy.
She admitted: "I’ve felt like maybe some people didn’t take me seriously, or people downplay my success because of relationships or because of how I look – but I know how much I’ve worked."
The ‘Save Our Summer’ presenter admitted her life changed "completely" following the death of her boyfriend Rico Gordon, who was fatally shot when caught up in a gunfight between two gangs in 2011.
She told The Guardian newspaper: "That changed my life completely. Losing somebody close to you as a teenager, particularly your first love, rocks your whole world and you are forced to see life differently. And you feel like life is too short.
"I don’t want to look back and not have done everything I wanted to do.
"He was an innocent man who lost his life instantly at 21, and that shocks you and it also makes you snap up, like, no, I’m not wasting time any more."