BBC The Repair Shop star Steve Fletcher posed alongside axed star Jay Blades in a recent post ahead of the latter’s court trial in May.
Back in October 2024, Blades pleaded not guilty to charges of controlling or coercive behaviour towards his estranged wife – Lisa Zbozen.
The 54-year-old appeared at Worcester Crown Court on Friday for a hearing before Judge James Burbidge KC where he denied responsibility for the alleged crime against his wife.
The couple’s relationship ended earlier this year, with Zbozen announcing their split in an Instagram post on May 2.
During the 12-minute court appearance, Blades spoke only to confirm his identity and enter his plea, with the charges relating to events between January 1, 2023 and September, 12 this year.
Court documents alleged that Blades engaged in behaviour that caused Zbozen “to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against her”.
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Blades’ address was given by the court as Wightwick, in Wolverhampton, though he is formerly from Shropshire.
After the hearing concluded, Blades left the court without making any comment to waiting media, with Judge Burbidge removing a bail condition requiring Blades to wear an electronic tag.
The TV presenter is expected to face trial on May 6 this year and has kept himself out of the limelight ever since.
However, his former The Repair Shop co-star Fletcher recently posted a selfie of the two of them and accompanied the post with a sweet caption.
The Instagram Story read: “In a break from our ‘Secrets from the barn’ tour, I popped in to see Jay the other day for a cup of tea and a lovely chat (not that the tea wasn’t lovely).
“It was great to catch up. Hope to see him again soon.” (sic)
The trial will determine whether Blades is guilty of the controlling or coercive behaviour charges he has denied.
Since the court hearing, Blades has deleted his Instagram account and has not been seen on any of his other co-stars’ accounts.
After the allegations about the presenter came out, an insider told The Sun: “The Beeb won’t feature any new shows in which he appears until it is clear how legal proceedings conclude”.
It was soon noticed that the broadcaster had edited out the presenter from their episodes, with the BBC One narrator introducing the show: “Talking shop now on BBC One, with a change to the billed episode.”
It didn’t take long for eagle-eyed fans to notice that Blades had been “heavily” edited out of the opening credits as well as being missing from the episode itself, with one X user commenting: “Heavy edit to remove Jay from the opening montage.”
A second fan added: “Noticing a big lack of Jay the opening few minutes. A bit of an impromptu trimming after recent headlines huh? #therepairshop.”
“Jay Blades totally erased from the #therepairshop,” a third penned before a fourth noted: “#TheRepairShop A change to the built episode.”