Repair Shop host is awarded MBE
THE Repair Shop host Jay Blades has spoken of his surprise at the show’s popularity as he was made a MBE at Windsor Castle.
Blades, a furniture restorer and designer, was given the honour by the Prince of Wales yesterday for services to craft and in recognition of his work promoting heritage craft and restoration in the UK.
The regular favourite on the BBC show – which sees members of the public bringing in worn-out family heirlooms to be restored by a team of experts – said he never expected that the programme “would become so big”.
Blades, 52, who has starred in the programme since it started in 2017, said: “I knew it was special, because you wouldn’t have all of those different disciplines in the same building. You wouldn’t have a ceramic next to a fine art next to woodwork and a clock restorer, you just wouldn’t have that.”
He said that the rest of the team were “over the moon” for him after receiving his MBE.
Blades left school at 15, and has set up a charity encouraging young people who struggle academically to get involved in practical jobs, such as restoration and craft.