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Kelly Rissman
US News Reporter
The Repair Shop presenter Jay Blades has resigned from the King’s Foundation after being charged with engaging in controlling or coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife.
The TV star, 54, last year won a daytime Bafta TV award along with other members of the BBC programme for a special featuring the King, who was at the time the Prince of Wales.
Blades supported the King’s Foundation, formerly the Prince’s Foundation, as an ambassador, and visited its Dumfries House location in Ayrshire for BBC special The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit.
The educational foundation confirmed to the PA news agency on Sunday (15 September) that Blades has informed the charity of his resignation.
On Friday 13 September, Blades 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.
The charge relates to his fitness instructor wife Lisa Zbozen, who announced on her Instagram page on 2 May that their relationship was over, according to court documents.
West Mercia Police confirmed Blades was charged on Thursday 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 22 November 2022.
After Blades was charged, the BBC began “urgently” removing episodes of The Repair Shop featuring him from its schedule.
The Times reports that the broadcaster is now putting plans in place to avoid broadcasting episodes in which Blades appears. The show is currently halfway through its 13th series.
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A repeat of Blades’s show David & Jay’s Touring Toolshed was no longer on the BBC’s schedule on Friday night, and it is understood the broadcaster will not currently schedule any programmes in which he features.
Episodes where Blades is featured will reportedly remain on the BBC’s catch-up service, iPlayer, along with the rest of the 300 episodes currently available to watch.
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.
Blades will appear at Worcester Crown Court for a plea and trial preparation hearing on 11 October.
Additional reporting by Press Association
