Repair Shop's Jay Blades resigns from King's Foundation after being charged by police
Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades has resigned from the King's Foundation after being charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his wife. The 54-year-old won a Bafta TV award last year along with other colleagues on the BBC programme for a special episode featuring King Charles - who was the Prince of Wales at the time.
He supported the King's Foundation - an educational charity set up by Charles when he was a prince in 1986 - as an ambassador, the PA news agency reported. He visited its Dumfries House location in Ayrshire for BBC special The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.
The Foundation confirmed to PA that he resigned today (Sunday, September 15). On Friday, September 13, Blades, who grew up in Hackney, appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court after being charged by West Mercia Police with one count of engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. He is due to at Worcester Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on October 11.
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The charge relates to his wife Lisa Zbozen, a fitness instructor who publicly announced their relationship was over on Instagram on May 2, court documents revealed. West Mercia Police confirmed Blades was charged on Thursday (September 12) following the launch of an investigation after they were called to an address the day after Ms Zbozen's post.
The couple married in the grounds of a beachfront villa in Barbados on November 22, 2022. It is understood that the BBC will not currently schedule any programmes in which Mr Blades features - a repeat of Blades' show David & Jay's Touring Toolshed was no longer on the BBC's schedule on Friday night.
The furniture restorer, who was made an MBE for services to craft in 2022, has also resigned from his role as chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University.
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