BBC presenter Jay Blades has been charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife, police confirmed today.
Blades, 54, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court this morning 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 Instagram in May that their relationship was over.
The couple married in the grounds of a beachfront villa in Barbados on November 22, 2022.
The charge sheet against Blades revealed the charges related to a period between January 1, 2023 – just 40 days after their wedding – and September 12 this year.
Jay Blades (left) has been charged with offences against his estranged wife Lisa Zbozen (right)
BBC presenter Jay Blades is pictured driving near Ironbridge in Shropshire on May 23
Blades’s wife Lisa Zbozen, a fitness instructor, posted this photograph on Instagram yesterday
Jay Blades and Lisa Zbozen married at 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 11th October.’
Blades left school at 15 with no qualifications but got back on track studying for a degree in criminology and philosophy at Buckinghamshire New University from 2001.
Following his graduation, Blades co-founded the Out of the Dark charitable social enterprise that recycled and revamped furniture to train, educate and employ young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.
BBC star Jay Blades appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court this morning (file image)
Jay Blades found fame on the BBC restoration programme The Repair Shop, which sees members of the public take worn-out family heirlooms to be restored by a team of experts
And he found fame on the BBC restoration programme The Repair Shop – which sees members of the public take worn-out family heirlooms to be restored by a team of experts – starring on the show since its launch in 2017.
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.
Blades was made an MBE by Charles in May 2022 for services to craft and in recognition of his work promoting heritage craft and restoration in the UK.
In 2022, a special one-off episode to mark the BBC’s centenary saw Jay Blades and the repair team visit the King, when he was still the Prince of Wales, at Dumfries House in Scotland
Blades appeared in a Channel 4 documentary last month about his friendship with actress Dame Judi Dench, called ‘Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple’
He was later invited to the King’s Coronation in May last year.
Blades is a trustee of the Heritage Crafts Association, a charity which aims to safeguard craft skills, of which the King is patron.
And Blades appeared in a Channel 4 documentary last month about his friendship with actress Dame Judi Dench, called ‘Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple’.
Blades also presented ‘Jay Blades: The West End Through Time’, a series that aired on Channel 5 in July about the history of London’s West End.
Following the news of Blades being charged, the BBC dropped a repeat from today’s BBC One schedule of an episode of David & Jay’s Touring Toolshed, in which Blades appears with actor Sir David Jason.
A BBC spokesperson said: ‘It would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings.’