The Repair Shop‘s Jay Blades has been charged with two counts of rape.
Police said in a statement tonight that the 55-year-old father-of-three would appear at magistrates’ court next Wednesday.
A spokesperson for West Mercia Police said: ‘Jason Blades, 55, of Claverley in Shropshire, has been charged with two counts of rape.
‘He is due to appear at Telford magistrates’ court on 13 August 2025.’
Blades is currently awaiting trial on a separate charge of coercive control of his estranged wife Lisa-Marie Zbozen.
He denied the allegation when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court last October.
Blades is due to appear at the same court on Tuesday for a pre-trial review hearing.
The star was charged last September with a single count of ‘controlling and coercive behaviour’ between January 1 2023 and September 12 2024.
The single charge relates to his fitness instructor wife Ms Zbozen, who announced on Instagram on May 2 last year that she had walked out of the marriage.
The BBC 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.
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.
