Television presenter Jay Blades has been charged with two counts of rape and will appear at Telford Magistrates’ Court next week, West Mercia Police have confirmed.
The 55-year-old former host of the BBC’s furniture restoration programme The Repair Shop is due to appear in court on 13 August, just one day after a scheduled pre-trial review at Worcester Crown Court for separate charges of controlling and coercive behaviour against his estranged wife.
“Jason Blades, 55, of Claverley in Shropshire, has been charged with two counts of rape,” a West Mercia Police spokesperson said in a statement. He is due to appear at Telford Magistrates’ Court on 13 August 2025.
The new charges come as Blades awaits trial for allegedly engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour towards his wife Lisa-Marie Zbozen between January 2023 and September 2024, charges he has denied.
Separate Legal Proceedings
The rape charges represent a significant escalation in legal troubles for the television personality, who was awarded an MBE for services to craft in 2021. Police have not disclosed details about when the alleged rapes occurred or information about the complainants involved.
Blades appeared via video link at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday for a preliminary hearing related to the coercive control charge. Wearing animal-print spectacles, a grey suit and blue polka-dot tie, he spoke only to confirm his name during the brief proceedings.
The coercive control allegations stem from incidents that allegedly occurred between 1 January 2023 and 12 September 2024. Court documents indicate that Blades allegedly “engaged in behaviour” that caused Zbozen to “fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against her.”
Zbozen, a fitness instructor, announced the end of their 18-month marriage on Instagram on 2 May 2024. The couple had married in November 2022 at a beachfront villa in Barbados. West Mercia Police launched an investigation the day after her social media post, when officers were called to an address.
Career Impact
The charges have effectively ended Blades’ broadcasting career with the BBC. He stepped down from presenting The Repair Shop in 2024 after seven years fronting the popular programme, which sees members of the public bringing treasured possessions and family heirlooms to be restored by expert craftspeople.
The show had been a remarkable success story, moving from a daytime slot to primetime on BBC One due to its popularity. In 2023, it won both a National Television Award and a BAFTA for a royal special edition featuring King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, who brought a clock and vase to be repaired.
Following the initial charges last year, the BBC removed programmes featuring Blades from its schedules. A repeat of his show “David & Jay’s Touring Toolshed,” which he co-presented with Sir David Jason, was pulled from the Friday night schedule, and the broadcaster confirmed it would not currently schedule any programmes featuring him.
Blades has also resigned from his position as chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University, a role he had assumed in March 2023 as the institution’s first-ever chancellor. The university had awarded him an honorary degree “for his significant contribution to furniture-making and crafts and community work.”
From Disadvantage to Fame
Blades’ rise to television stardom had been portrayed as an inspirational story of overcoming adversity. Born Jason Blades on 21 February 1970 in Brent, North London, he was raised by his single mother in Hackney alongside his maternal half-brother.
In his 2021 memoir “Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life,” Blades described experiencing racism from school peers and police during his childhood. He later discovered his father had 25 other children from different mothers across multiple countries.
Blades left school at 15 with no qualifications, unable to read properly due to undiagnosed dyslexia. He worked as a labourer and in factories before enrolling at Buckinghamshire New University as a mature student to study criminology at age 31, when he was diagnosed with the reading ability of an 11-year-old.
His path to television began when he and his then-wife Jade founded the charity Out of the Dark in High Wycombe, teaching disadvantaged young people furniture restoration skills. When the charity lost funding and his marriage broke down, Blades became homeless, relying on friends and the Caribbean community for support.
Television producers discovered him through a short film about the charity, leading to his breakthrough role on The Repair Shop in 2017. The Ricochet production, owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, transformed him into a household name.
Broadcasting Portfolio
Beyond The Repair Shop, Blades presented numerous programmes including “Money for Nothing” until 2020, “Jay Blades’ Home Fix,” and “Jay and Dom’s Home Fix.” He appeared on celebrity versions of shows including “MasterChef,” “The Great Celebrity Bake Off,” and “Strictly Come Dancing.”
In 2021, he filmed the BBC documentary “Jay Blades: Learning to Read at 51,” depicting his attempts to improve his literacy with support from the charity Read Easy UK. The programme highlighted his ongoing struggles with dyslexia and his determination to overcome educational barriers.
He also presented several Channel 5 documentary series exploring British history and communities, including “Jay Blades: No Place Like Home” and “Jay Blades’ East End Through Time.”
Royal Connections Severed
Blades had cultivated significant connections with the Royal Family through his work. He was an ambassador for the King’s Foundation, formerly the Prince’s Foundation, and visited its Dumfries House location in Ayrshire for the BBC special “The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.
Following the coercive control charges in September 2024, he resigned from his role with the King’s Foundation. The educational charity confirmed to media that Blades had informed them of his resignation.
His MBE, awarded in the 2021 Birthday Honours, recognised his services to craft and his work with disadvantaged communities. He had previously described King Charles as “just a normal geezer” in BBC interviews, highlighting their rapport during the royal’s appearance on The Repair Shop.
Legal Timeline
The current legal proceedings follow a complex timeline. Blades was first arrested in July 2022 in relation to what are now understood to be the coercive control allegations. He was released under investigation in August 2023 and attended three voluntary interviews with police over three years.
He pleaded not guilty to the coercive control charge at Worcester Crown Court in October 2024. Judge James Burbidge KC set a trial date for 6 May 2025 at Worcester Crown Court, with Blades remaining on conditional bail.
The new rape charges were formally announced on Monday, with the court appearance scheduled for 13 August at Telford Magistrates’ Court. This hearing will occur one day after his pre-trial review at Worcester Crown Court on Tuesday for the coercive control case.
Industry Response
The charges against Blades represent another significant scandal for the BBC, which has faced multiple allegations against high-profile presenters in recent years. The corporation has maintained its policy of not commenting on ongoing legal proceedings whilst removing content featuring the accused from its platforms.
Warner Bros. Discovery’s Ricochet, which produces The Repair Shop, has not commented on the charges or announced plans for the programme’s future presenting arrangements.
As criminal proceedings are now active for both sets of charges, reporting restrictions apply to ensure Blades’ right to fair trials. The television presenter who once inspired audiences with his journey from homelessness to primetime success now faces serious criminal allegations that could result in substantial prison sentences if convicted.
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Image Credit:
This is a licensed photograph:
- Jay Blades in 2020 (interview screenshot) – Description: Jay Blades in 2020.jpg, showing Jay Blades being interviewed in October 2020. Photo by National Lottery Good Causes, sourced from a YouTube clip, taken on 28 October 2020, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
