Jay Blades’ Home Fix

The Repair Shop host Jay Blades on how he hopes his new DIY show will encourage the nation to make do and mend

HOLIDAY MONDAY-FRIDAY / BBC1 As a fan of The Repair Shop, I’m looking forward to its inspirational presenter Jay Blades sharing his tricks of the DIY trade in this 10-part daytime series. We chat to Jay about how to hang the perfect shelf and much more…

JAY BLADES’ HOME FIX

NEW HOLIDAY MONDAYFRIDAY / BBC1 / 10AM / EPS 1-5 OF 10 / LIFESTYLE

Are your garden chairs looking tired and shabby? Are you sick of seeing that chipped skirting board staring back at you, or could you do with a new shelf for the pile of books that are collecting on the floor?

With many of us spending more time at home at the moment, it’s little wonder we’ve started noticing all the home improvement jobs that need doing.

But fear not, The Repair Shop’s inspirational presenter and selfconfessed DIY enthusiast Jay Blades is here to help us in his brand-new BBC1 daytime series, Jay Blades’ Home Fix.

Over 10 episodes, Jay will share his tricks of the trade and give step-by-step demonstrations in his workshop, as well as dispelling common myths, to help viewers master basic skills and become more handy around the home.

Here, Jay, 49, tells TV Times why he hopes his new series will inspire the nation…

Can you tell us about the idea behind the series?

The reason why people avoid DIY is often because what they’ve tried before has failed. With this series, what we’re doing is showing you how not to fail. We want to get everyone enthusiastic about fixing and making. I’d describe it as a grown-up Blue Peter meets Saturday Kitchen. We’ll also be going through BBC archives, so we’ve got people like Sarah Moore from Money for Nothing and Tommy Walsh from Ground Force giving us all their tips.

What’s your earliest memory of fixing something?

My first DIY project was making my own bike when I was about 10. I had a frame and I just had to get wheels and put it all together – the chain, the pedals, the crank, the whole shebang.

Which of your DIY projects are you most proud of?

Ha, there are too many to mention! I’m very proud of lots of things, but I’ll tell you what I’m really proud of that I did recently – I made my own furniture polish, and it worked so well that I am honestly never buying furniture polish again. I won’t tell you how I did it because you’ll have to watch the show, but it was so simple and made from household ingredients. Anyone can do it.

What have you restored that is special to you?

There is a leather bag I fixed that my daughter bought me. The handle had broken so I fixed it, and that to me is really special.

Do you think DIY is good for our mental health and well-being? Absolutely. I think mental healthwise it’s great, because it gives people that sense of achievement.

Once you’ve been able to accomplish something, it’s like ‘Wow!’, and you can look back and say, ‘I did that myself!’ Putting up a shelf, painting a chair or whatever it is, you will always be reminded of what you’ve achieved.

And, of course, there are financial benefits too…

Yes, completely, it’s saving a LOT of money. If you can do it yourself, then you can stop adding to this consumerist society where everybody is buying so much stuff. You don’t need to buy a new chair – stick with the one you’ve got, add some paint, add a new bit of fabric. And there you go!

Are there any particularly useful products that we should all have in our homes?

The two most useful bits of kit, in my opinion, are a clamp and a spirit level. A clamp is like having an extra pair of hands that can hold things in place. You don’t need to buy expensive ones, either – I like the kind of straps that you use when you fix things to the roof of a car. They only cost about £2.50 each.

Do you think we’re seeing a slow return to the ‘make do and mend’ mentality of previous times?

I would love people to get back to that whole movement of hanging on to what we’ve got and making the best of it. I think we should all be doing that. This pandemic has created communities. Now what we need to do is create a DIY community. Let’s get making stuff, let’s make it happen!

THIS SERIES IS A GROWNUP BLUE

PETER MEETS SATURDAY KITCHEN