Jay Blades 'is taking break from The Repair Shop' after breakup and uncle's death

Jay Blades has reportedly taken a break from 'The Repair Shop' after the breakdown of his marriage.

The 54-year-old presenter wasn't part of filming this week as work resumed on the BBC restoration show days after his wife Lisa Marie Zbozen confirmed their split just 18 months after they got married, while the star recently revealed that his uncle Richard Brathwaite had been killed.

An insider told The Sun newspaper's TVBiz column: "Jay has taken a step back and is having a break from filming 'The Repair Shop'.

“His uncle’s death in March and the breakdown of his marriage means he has decided to take some time out.”

It's said most people working on the programme weren't aware of his breakup, while the show is "carrying on" in his absence.

The source added: "'The Repair Shop' is carrying on without him for now and the other repairers are hard at work.

“People who worked with Jay said they were shocked to hear that his marriage to Lisa had ended.

"It was not well known at all among the people who work on the show.”

Last week, fitness instructor Lisa - who tied the knot with Jay in a small ceremony in May 2022 - revealed they had called it quits, and she later made a tearful confession that she just "couldn't seem to get things right" for him.

Speaking in an Instagram Story, she said: "OK I am going to try this for the fortieth time without crying. So, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has sent a message and been so nice.

"I don't really, I still don't really believe that this is actually real because if you knew how much I loved my husband and how much I have tried to make this work over and over again. I just wanted it so much and I couldn't be enough. I couldn't seem to get it right ever."

Jay is yet to speak out publicly on the split, but Lisa used first announced the news with a lengthy post in which she apologised to her followers for the lack of fitness updates but was "so incredibly sad" after things deteriorated in her marriage to the point where she just packed her bags.