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Privacy Notice Jay Blades opened up about his personal struggles and admitted to feeling like a “complete failure” after betraying his first wife. Last year, the Repair Shop star spoke candidly with Spencer Matthews on Global’s Big Fish podcast about hitting rock bottom when his charity, Out of the Dark, collapsed, which he ran alongside his former spouse. The presenter – who is back on our screens with Dame Judi And Jay: The Odd Couple – delved into one of his life’s most challenging chapters while discussing the closure of the organisation in 2015 due to financial troubles. When asked by Spencer if he ever felt suicidal, Jay confessed: “Absolutely. I was running a charity, Out of the Dark, and basically I ran it with my ex-wife, and the funding dried up, and also I, to cut a long story short, I cheated.” Sign up to OK!’s daily newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free Visibly emotional, he recounted the harrowing moment of realisation: “My ex-wife ran finances and helped with the business side of things whilst I dealt with the young people, and basically, I remember getting in the car and everything had flopped; the marriage had flopped, the business, the young people I was working with, the whole shebang. I felt like a complete failure with the decision I decided to take to destroy the relationship.”
Jay is best known for The Repair Shop
(Image: BBC/Ricochet/Kieron Mckarron)
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The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades shares heartbreaking moment amid marriage break up
Out of the Dark, which operated out of Wycombe, aimed to assist young individuals in refurbishing furniture, providing training and job opportunities for those from underserved communities. Jay started this initiative with his ex-wife Jade, whom he met during their university days. In the candid podcast chat, Jay opened up about his dark days battling depression after his life crumbled post-divorce from Jade, leaving him without a home.
EMBARGOED TO 0001 TUESDAY AUGUST 23 Undated handout photo of (left to right) Dame Judi Dench, Jay Blades and Steve Fletcher. Dame Judi Dench will appear in a special session of The Repair Shop at the Edinburgh TV Festival. Issue date: Tuesday August 23, 2022. PA Photo. See PA story SHOWBIZ Dench . Photo credit should read: Guy Levy/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
(Image: PA)
But it was the power of community that helped Jay rebuild his life. He gave a shout-out to the counsellors who helped him ditch the “macho male” facade he’d carried since his younger days and embrace his softer side. Jay also delved into his complex relationship with his estranged father, whom he refers to as “the man who contributed to my birth”. A surprising revelation came when he learned from his half-sister that he has a whopping 27 siblings, and possibly even more internationally. Jay tied the knot with his second wife, Lisa Zbozen, 42, in a dreamy Barbados wedding, however the two sadly split earlier this year, with Lisa sobbing that she ‘couldn’t be enough’. Dame Judi And Jay: The Odd Couple is on Sunday, 18 August at 9pm on Channel 4Story SavedYou can find this story in My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.Follow OK! MagazineFacebookTwitterCommentMore OnSpencer MatthewsThe Repair Shop
