BBC backs Jay Blades by green lighting new show amid marriage breakdown
THERE’S finally some better news for Jay Blades after his marriage split, as I can reveal The Repair Shop is getting a spin-off show.
The Repair Shop On The Road will go across the country trying to revive people’s broken treasures.
But this time there is less emphasis on frontman Jay, and more on the supporting team of restorers from in the barn. It is expected to be filmed later this year
A TV insider said: “This is a great vote of confidence in The Repair Shop’s presenter, even if it does see the limelight shift from him somewhat in this spin-off.
“It’s also another sign of just how successful the show has become in the seven years it’s been on our screens.”
The Repair Shop launched in 2017 and is filmed at the Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex.
Its success was shown in the fact the series jumped from BBC Two to BBC One.
There have been several specials, including a festive show, and it has even been parodied on Comic Relief.
In 2022, the King made a memorable appearance with a clock that required restoration.
Recently, Jay has gained more attention over his split from Lisa-Marie Zbozen, and took a break from filming the show.
But this week he was back on the set of The Repair Shop.
It’s good to have you back again, Jay.
Craig: I’m not into bullying
STRICTLY’S Mr Mean Craig Revel Horwood admits he is careful about what he says, to avoid being branded a bully.
The dance show judge always says something nice, “otherwise it could be misconstrued as bullying”.
He added: “It could be just all negatives. People don’t like that any more.
“I generally begin with what is wrong with it, so they need to fix it. But I will always back it up with something I liked about the dance.
“How they handle it is up to them. If you’re an athlete and a gold medallist, and you want gold and not bronze, you’re going to have to listen to whoever is training you.”
He added on RTE Radio: “Unfortunately, we have a lot of actors and actresses who get very teary, darling, and take it very personally, which you can’t.
“You really have to learn.”
Clive in gun nut ordeal
CLIVE MYRIE’S career has taken him to war zones around the world – but dealing with racist trolls has sometimes been just as unnerving.
The newsreader, who recently jetted off to sunnier climes for his new BBC Two travel series Caribbean Adventures, revealed he once received death threats from a previously convicted criminal.
He said on the podcast Spooning With Mark Wogan: “There’s always going to be sad losers out there. The problem is, they have access to the airwaves in various forms to get their message out there.
“It doesn’t usually bother me, but one guy was issuing death threats – coppers eventually arrested him – in messages to the BBC.
“He threatened to shoot me. It transpired he’d had previous convictions for having firearms.
“You’ll never get legislation for absolutely everybody. But this guy – what could have happened?”
It’s tree time for Jessica
BABY Reindeer’s Jessica Gunning is to feature opposite Bridgerton leading lady Nicola Coughlan in a new ENID BLYTON adaptation.
The actress, who has become a household name thanks to her role as Martha in the hit Netflix series, will play Dame Washalot in children’s story The Magic Faraway Tree.
Jessica, who is Diane Pemberley in BBC comedy drama The Outlaws, will also be joined on screen by Sweet Tooth’s Nonso Anozie.
The story follows Polly and Tim Thompson and their children Beth, Joe and Fran who discover a magical tree and its eccentric occupants.
Claire Foy, Andrew Garfield, Lenny Henry, Michael Palin and Simon Russell Beale also appear.
The film is yet to be given a release date.
Protest, Putin & Macca
A MEMORY card smuggled out of a Russian jail in a matchbox and a letter from Paul McCartney to Vladimir Putin that ended a global scandal . . .
It may sound like the plot of a 007 movie, but it is the story at the heart of a new BBC Two documentary starting on Sunday.
On Thin Ice: Putin v Greenpeace tells the 2013 story of how a group of 30 environmental campaigners carried out a protest at a Russian oil rig and ended up in a Siberian prison.
Macca wrote to Putin calling for their release. One, Exeter resident, Alexandra Harris, said: “It’s like finding yourself in a James Bond movie. I was terrified.”
The drama was caught on a phone, whose memory card was hidden by a protester, and used as footage in the doc.