BBC presenter Jay Blades has been charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife.
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.
Jay Blades (left) has been charged with offences against his estranged wife Lisa Zbozen (right)
BBC star Jay Blades appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court this morning (file image)
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
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.
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 13th September) and has been bailed to appear at Worcester Crown Court on Friday 11th October.’
Jay Blades and Lisa Zbozen married at a beachfront villa in Barbados on November 22, 2022
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
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’
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 – 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 for his work in promoting heritage craft and restoration in the UK in May 2022.
And he appeared in a Channel 4 documentary last month about his friendship with actress Dame Judi Dench, called ‘Dame Judi and Jay: The Odd Couple’.