Jay Blades pleads not guilty to controlling and coercive behaviour

BBC star Jay Blades appeared in court this afternoon to deny the coercive control of his estranged wife over a 20-month period.

The television presenter is alleged to have left Lisa-Marie Zbozen in fear of violence on at least two occasions while in an intimate or family relationship.

During the brief hearing, Judge James Burbidge KC refused a defence request to hear part of the hearing in private.

Blades, who was listed to appear under his full name of Jason Blades, wore a dark suit and his trademark black cap and thick rimmed glasses as he arrived at Worcester Crown Court.

At the end of a 12-minute hearing, he was bailed to return to the court for a trial, possibly on May 6 next year.

The Repair Shop star was charged last month with a single count of 'controlling and coercive behaviour' between January 1 2023 and September 12 2024. He has entered a plea of not guilty.

The single charge relates to his fitness instructor wife Ms Zbozen, 43, who announced on Instagram on May 2 that she had walked out of the marriage. 

The BBC show, which started on daytime TV in 2017 before moving to a primetime slot, saw Blades become one of the best-known faces on British TV. He was honoured with an MBE in 2021.

No further details of the case were mentioned today. But the particulars of the charge stated that Blades 'engaged in behaviour' which is alleged to be 'controlling or coercive which had a serious effect on her.

Namely that it caused Lisa Marie Zbozen to fear, on at least two occasions, that violence will be used against her, at a time when he knew, or ought to have known, that the behaviour will have a serious effect on Lisa Marie Zbozen'.

The judge removed a bail condition that Blades should be subject to an electronic tag, which hadn't been fitted yet due to 'failings' by the company responsible.