Presenter Jay Blades charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour

BBC presenter Jay Blades has been charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his wife.

Blades, 54, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Friday after being charged by West Mercia Police with one count of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship.

According to court documents, the charge relates to his fitness instructor wife Lisa Zbozen, who announced on her Instagram page on May 2 that their relationship was over.

West Mercia Police confirmed Blades was charged on Thursday following the launch of an investigation after they were called to an address the day after Ms Zbozen’s post, May 3.

The couple married in the grounds of a beachfront villa in Barbados on November 22 2022.

The presenter, who fronts primetime show The Repair Shop, will appear at Worcester Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on October 11.

In a statement, West Mercia Police said: “54-year-old Jason Blades of Claverley in Wolverhampton has been charged with controlling and coercive behaviour.

“He appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court this morning (Friday September 13) and has been bailed to appear at Worcester Crown Court on Friday October 11.”

The PA news agency understands a repeat of David & Jay’s Touring Toolshed will no longer be on the BBC’s schedule on Friday night and the broadcaster will not currently schedule any programmes in which he features.

Furniture restorer Blades, who was made an MBE for services to craft in 2022, found fame on The Repair Shop, the restoration programme he has presented since 2017, which sees members of the public take worn-out family heirlooms to be restored by a team of experts.

He also presented the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020, appeared on Celebrity Masterchef and Celebrity Bake Off as well as Comic Relief and delved into the history of the West Midlands and the East End for two Channel 5 documentaries.

In March 2023, he became Buckinghamshire New University’s first chancellor having studied for a degree in criminology and philosophy from 2001, and in May 2023 he won a daytime Bafta TV award along with other members of The Repair Shop for a special featuring the King, who was at the time the Prince of Wales.

In the one-off special, Blades and the restorers visited Charles at Dumfries House in Scotland for The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.

The programme also won the daytime prize at the National Television Awards the same year.

In a statement posted on their website, Buckinghamshire New University said: “Jay Blades MBE has resigned from his role as Chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University with immediate effect.

“We thank Jay for his loyal service to the University and will be making no further comment.”