The Repair Shop star Jay Blades will face two charges of rape.
Police confirmed the charges against the TV presenter in a statement given to The Sun, adding that he would appear in court next week.
A West Mercia police spokesman said: “Jason Blades, 55, of Claverley in Shropshire, has been charged with two counts of rape. He is due to appear at Telford magistrates’ court on 13 August 2025.”
Blades, 55, presented the BBC show The Repair Shop for seven series. Filmed at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex, it follows members of the public as they bring in beloved items from their family history to be fixed by a workshop staffed by expert craftspeople.
Jay Blades was appointed MBE in 2022
GUY LEVY/BBC
Blades struck up an unlikely friendship with the King while filming a royal special of The Repair Shop at Dumfries House in 2022, during which he broke protocol by touching Charles — then the Prince of Wales — on the arm. He later spoke to The Times about their “bromance”, and was invited to the King’s 75th birthday celebrations at The Prince’s Foundation at Highgrove House last year.
Blades, who was appointed MBE in 2022, had joined the royal charity in 2020, before it was renamed The King’s Foundation. Upon joining, he praised Charles’s vision of “creating harmonious sustainable communities” and “championing a sustainable approach to how we live our lives”.
Blades also presented the BBC’s Money For Nothing until 2020, appeared on Celebrity Masterchef and Celebrity Bake Off as well as Comic Relief, and explored the history of the West Midlands and the East End for two Channel 5 documentaries.