Jay Blades

An ambassador of the Prince’s Foundation and Co-Chair of Heritage Crafts, Jay is a furniture restorer, author, and TV presenter, best known for his role as host of the BBC One prime time hit show, The Repair Shop. In 2021, Jay published his first book Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me repair My Life, an instant Sunday Times bestseller. His second book, Jay’s DIY Bible: How To Repair and Refresh Your Home was published in 2022, and his third, Life Lessons, was published in September 2023. In 2023, Jay and The Repair Shop team won a Bafta in the Daytime category for The Repair Shop: A Royal Visit. Jay is First Chancellor of Buckinghamshire New University and was appointed an MBE in the 2021 Birthday Honours. He recently appeared on Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. Jay grew up in Hackney and lives in Shropshire.