Presenter Maya Jama, 25, said her former boyfriend Rico Gordon’s death gave her a “fearless approach” to life, which has proven to be a success for the star, who recently bought her own house after rising to fame as a presenter on MTV in 2014 and most recently on The Peter Crouch: Save Our Summer.
Discussing the trauma in her younger years, she said: “When I was 16 I went through a lot.
“With my boyfriend passing, it gave me a fearless approach to things.
“I felt like life was really short. Out of everything that [has] happened in my life, that was a reality check on a massive scale.
“At 16 you think the world is a fairytale and it took me out of that. It made me even more determined.
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Speaking on the TTYA Talks podcast, she said she had found a “new lease of excitement” in her newly single life.
“I don’t allow myself to be down in the dumps about things that are out of my control like my break up,” she explained.
“I was in a relationship for nearly five years and I’ve had a new lease of excitement.”
In the same chat, she explained how she thought people treated her differently after their break-up because she is female.
She added: “I used to think that sexism was dying out, and then now and recently as well, especially, I’m like, it’s still so loud.
“A guy can do one thing and get one reaction and a girl can do something and be like the wicked witch of the world.(sic)
“You just have to rise above it a little bit and just take it as it is. And try and speak out as much as you can. Like hang on a minute, question your actions.”
The September issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine is on sale from July 30.