The Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades has been charged with engaging in controlling and coercive behaviour against his wife. The 54-year-old appeared at Kidderminster magistrates court on Friday, West Mercia police confirmed.
West Mercia police said Blades, of Claverley in Wolverhampton, was charged with one count of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship. He has been bailed to appear at Worcester crown court on 11 October for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
The charge relates to his fitness instructor wife, Lisa Zbozen, who announced on her Instagram page on 2 May that their relationship was over. The BBC has reportedly removed a programme featuring Blades from its Friday evening schedule, and no further programmes featuring him are expected to be broadcast in the foreseeable future.
Blades rose to fame on the BBC restoration programme The Repair Shop. A BBC spokesperson said it would not be appropriate to comment on ongoing legal proceedings, adding that Blades is not a BBC employee and the charge is unrelated to his work.
