The Repair Shop: Filming halted on Christmas special as star Jay Blades takes time off to deal with marriage collapse

Jay Blades has reportedly not taken part in filming the Christmas special on The Repair Shop since his wife posted on social media that she had left their home. Now it is unclear if the show will ever be finished. The news will be a blow to fans of the furniture repair programme which pulls in as many as 7 million viewers and has even boasted the King as a special guest on one episode.

According to the Daily Mail, The Repair Shop staff are waiting to be told whether they will be required to return to work tomorrow. Filming was already under way but came to a sudden halt last week. It was due to continue at the Weald & Downland Living Museum in Chichester. The news comes just days after Jay Blades’ wife Lisa Zbozen has announced she has ended her marriage to ‘The Repair Shop’ star in a shock Instagram post. Zbozen’s revelation came on Thursday and just two days after Blades made his own heartbreaking announcement on Instagram. On Monday (April 30), he told his fans that he was taking a break from social media after attending the funeral of his uncle, who was murdered.

Posting an image of the now former couple of their wedding day, which was in November 2022, 43-year-old Zbozen said she had only split from Blades, aged 54, at the weekend and that her emotions were still ‘raw’.

She wrote: “I don’t know how to say this because it’s still really raw. I probably should be really angry but I’m just incredibly sad about the whole thing right now. I don’t think I’ve ever cried so much.”

She went on to say that “This is the first post I’ve made outloud, and it feels like I’m numb. I will admit I’m crying as I type this as I can’t believe this is even real.

“I hope you don’t mind if I just have a few days trying to figure out my life as I’m currently in a spare room with a few essentials. I don’t know what else to say. “The world got the best parts of my husband, & over time, I got a whole lot of everything else. No matter how bad it got I still apologised & still tried to fix it, because I loved my husband, very much. All my love, A very broken, Lisa - Marie x.”

Zbozen, who is a personal trainer and runs on-demand fitness app The Wkout, also apologised to her fans for not posting any content recently, but explained her marriage split was the reason for her going quiet online. She is known for posting tough, high-intensity workouts on Instagram almost every day which show her lifting kettlebells, lunging and squatting.

The couple married in Barbados in November 2022 in front of family and friends, and they also shared their wedding with Hello! Magazine. Zbozen posted a tribute to her now estranged husband on Instagram on their one year wedding anniversary on 22 November.

Posting images from their wedding day she wrote: “Happy Anniversary @jaybladesmbe. “Me & you until the wheels come off”. Tiny Blades.”

This is the second time Blades has experienced a marriage break-up. He split from his ex-wife Jade, with whom he shares a daughter, in 2015. He also has two other children from two previous relationships.