BBC star Jay Blades appeared in court this morning over a charge of coercively controlling his ex-wife – as a judge was told he has separately been charged with two counts of rape.
The television presenter appeared via video link at Worcester Crown Court during a brief administration hearing over the charge of coercively controlling Lisa-Marie Zbozen.
Worcester Crown Court heard Blades, 55, would next appear at Telford Magistrates Court to face the rape charges on August 13.
Blades, who was listed at court under his full name of Jason Blades, spoke only to confirm his name. He appeared on the link wearing a grey suit and blue polka-dot tie and wearing animal print rimmed spectacles.
The hearing lasted less than 15 minutes and Blades was granted bail by judge James Burbidge KC.
The Repair Shop star Blades was charged last September with a single count of controlling and coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship between January 1 2023 and September 12 2024.
Filming on the new series of The Repair Shop – in which members of the public bring their treasured possessions and heirlooms to be fixed – began without him the same month.
At the time, furniture restorer Blades said he was taking a break to ‘take stock’ following the alleged murder of his uncle.
BBC presenter Jay Blades arrives at Worcester Crown Court in October last year
Jay Blades and estranged wife Lisa Marie Zbozen
The particulars of the charge stated that Blades, of Claverley, Shropshire, ‘engaged in behaviour’ which was ‘controlling or coercive which had a serious effect on her, namely that it caused Lisa Marie Zbozen to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against her, at a time when he knew, or ought to have known, that the behaviour will have a serious effect on Lisa Marie Zbozen.
She announced on Instagram in May 2024 that she had walked out of the marriage.
Blades wed Ms Zbozen – his second wife – in the grounds of a beachfront villa in Barbados on November 22, 2022, 40 days before the start of the alleged abusive behaviour.
The furniture restorer began hosting The Repair Shop when it launched in 2017. The show sees members of the public taking worn-out family heirlooms to be fixed by experts.
Blades, a father-of-thee, was dropped from last year’s live tour, while Roman Kemp replaced him as host for last year’s Christmas special.
Blades was handed an MBE in 2021 for services to craft.
On Monday, West Mercia Police said: ‘Jason Blades, of Claverley in Shropshire, has been charged with two counts of rape.
‘He is due to appear at Telford magistrates’ court on August 13.’
Blades pictured on set of the BBC ‘s Repair Show, which started on daytime TV in 2017
The BBC‘s Repair Show, which started on daytime TV in 2017 before moving to a primetime slot, saw Blades become one of the best-known faces on British TV. He was honoured with an MBE in 2021.
He has been at the helm of the show for seven years, but was dropped from last year’s live tour.
Roman Kemp replaced Blades as host for last year’s Christmas special of The Repair Shop.
In 2022, a special one-off episode to mark the BBC’s centenary saw Blades and the repair team visit the King, when he was still the Prince of Wales, at Dumfries House in Scotland.
During The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit, a bracket clock and a piece made for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee by British ceramics maker Wemyss Ware were both fixed – and the broadcast later won a daytime Bafta TV award.
