Maya Jama missed the Celebrity Traitors reunion because she was away filming the third season of the Netflix crime drama The Gentlemen, a representative confirmed.
The Love Island presenter was eliminated at the final roundtable of the BBC series on Friday night (October 31). The episode began with her and fellow traitor King Kenny deciding to murder actor Michael Sheen.
Maya then tried to convince the faithful she was one of them, but Kenny turned on her at the final roundtable when it became clear she could make him a risk too.
Finale and Faithful Victory
After Maya was eliminated, Kenny, singer James Blunt, comedian Romesh Ranganathan and actor Sebastian Croft voted off former Little Mix singer Leigh-Anne Pinnock. Kenny was then eliminated as tension increased.
James chose to continue banishing rather than end the game after Romesh aired his suspicions, despite Romesh revealing that a conversation with Sebastian had changed his opinion of the singer. Both faithfuls ultimately voted for James, leaving Romesh and Sebastian as the final two. They left with £41,500 each for their charities, marking the first win for the faithful after traitor Alan Carr won the first series last year.
Reunion Absence Explained
Following the episode, many contestants appeared on a live edition of spin-off series Uncloaked, presented by Ed Gamble, who welcomed Claudia Winkleman and the other finalists. Maya was not in attendance; Ed confirmed she was 'away filming' and 'sends her apologies'.
According to Metro, a representative for Maya said she was filming the third season of The Gentlemen. Maya made her debut on the Guy Ritchie Netflix series earlier in the year, playing the morally ambiguous Aisha.
Earlier in the month, The Gentlemen began production of its third season in the UK and Morocco. It is expected that a new storyline will focus on the construction of a casino in the Middle East. Series three will welcome new stars including Robert Carlyle, Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, Dexter Fletcher, Bruna Marquezine and rapper Bugzy Malone.
Also missing from Uncloaked was James Acaster, who quit the series after coming under pressure from Michael Sheen. It has emerged that the episode required significant editing after production was brought to a standstill when the mounting pressure proved too much for James, reports the Daily Star.
Maya's Reaction to Elimination
Maya revealed she knew Kenny would turn on her, saying in a pre-recorded clip on Uncloaked: "I expected it. I knew that it was going to have to be one of us, and he was a lot more trusted at that time than me, and I felt like it would be selfish for me to expect him to try and save me when it was never going my way…
"I don't know how it crashed down so quickly. I feel like the game of James not wanting to lie, me just trying to keep the vibes happy and Kenny playing as a Faithful couldn't have lasted till the final. It was impossible. I think maybe if I was a bit more savage, things could have gone a different way."
