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British TV host Maya Jama and American basketball star Ben Simmons finally confirmed their engagement on January 11, as Maya was seen walking alongside Ben in Philadelphia with a huge diamond ring on her ring finger.
The duo have been dating since May 2021 and made their relationship public in June after Ben shared a screenshot of a FaceTime call with Maya on his Instagram story. However, rumors about the couple getting engaged first circulated when Ben's tattoo artist referred to them as engaged in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Everything about the ethnic background of Maya Jama and her engagement to Ben Simmons
Maya Jama, born in Bristol, England, has a mixed ethnic background from both Europe and East Africa. She is of Swedish descent on her mother's side and Somali descent on her father's side. Jama, who is very close to her mother, has had a traumatic upbringing, having her father spend most of his life in prison throughout her childhood. She cut her father off from her life when she was 12, only to meet him up in 2017 in order to find answers to her questions.
In the photos published on Tuesday by the Daily Mail, Maya flaunted her massive diamond ring which is believed to have cost Ben over $800,000, as gemologist Alexandra Mitchell of Prestige Pawnbrokers told the Daily Mail:
"This is a classic and elegant emerald cut diamond ring with trapezoid side stones on a white gold or platinum setting. The main diamond looks like it weighs approximately (a 10carats. It’s likely to be a very clean stone being an emerald cut (you can see straight through them), and looks to be very white. I would estimate this to retail for upwards of £600,000 ($8,21,271)."
Back in December, an insider told The Sun that Ben had chosen the ring himself and got it the day before he asked Maya to marry him. The source said:
"Ben adores Maya and has fallen head over heels for her. He picked up the ring on Jewelers’ Row in the diamond district of Philadelphia the day before he proposed. He chose the ring himself and felt he knew exactly what she would want. Maya said yes and they’re both thrilled."
The source added that Ben and Maya (who has been splitting her time between the United States and the UK) had a small gathering to announce their engagement and planned on keeping the news 'low-key'.
"He and Maya have been together for much less time but, thankfully, she said yes. Ben was so excited, but they’ve decided to keep the news low-key and tell only those closest to them. Maya flew to New Jersey to spend Christmas with him and is still there now. They had a small family gathering last weekend and announced their engagement.”
The Philadelphia 76ers star reportedly popped the question during the festive period when the Walk The Line host spent Christmas at his £3.7 million mansion in Moorestown, New Jersey. Maya reportedly plans on moving to the United States following the engagement.
Ben Simmons, 25, previously dated Kendall Jenner, whereas Maya Jama, 27 dated rapper Stormzy. Both duos called it quits in 2019.
