My mother has something she wants to show you, I say. It’s not how I usually begin interviews, but I’m under strict instruction. Jay Blades, famous for presenting The Repair Shop, a show in which experts restore damaged family heirlooms, leans forward with interest. He’s an imposing figure in real life, 6ft 3in with a granite handshake. “What does your mum have?” She said she would “find something”, I say. I think she just wants to meet him. He laughs. I’m guessing he gets this a lot.
We’re in Jay & Co, his furniture workshop in Telford, Shropshire. Around us funkily restored wingback, tub and occasional chairs sit on huge shelves, like an eccentric senate room. We’re here to talk not just about his
