Jay Blades: The Repair Shop star wants to be first black host to front primetime game show

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Jay Blades, 51, is best known for presenting the tear-jerking BBC show The Repair Shop. The upcycling restorer opened up about his personal ambition as the small-screen star opened up about primetime gameshows and diversity.

While the eighth series of The Repair Shop has been nominated for a BAFTA TV award, Jay has his eyes on other projects.

It comes as the restorer has released his book Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life.

The memoir explores Jay’s life from his childhood and follows his journey to landing on-screen, but it wasn’t without trial and tribulations.

Throughout his own story, Jay unveils the various challenges he faced from homelessness to mental health struggles and racism.

Addressing the possibility of fronting a gameshow, Jay explained: “Even when we look at British TV – a station asked me, ‘What shows would you like to do?’

“I said, ‘First and foremost, I want to do shows based around community. To show that together we can achieve anything.’

“But I would like to do a game show. And they were like, ‘What…why?’

He continued: “And if you look at TV history there has never been in this day and age a black male or female doing a game show on primetime.

“There hasn’t been a black host on any station. In America, yes, but in this country, it hasn’t happened.

“If we’re supposed to be in this diversity era, why hasn’t it tapped in?”

The small-screen star also touched on black presenters often fronting entertainment shows such as comedy, music and sport.

The presenter added that it was rare to see someone like himself on a show like The Repair Shop.

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Jay said: “I’m a completely different person.

“I’m the main guy. Never in the history of TV has that happened.”

Meanwhile, Jay opened up about his decision to write his first memoir where the presenter gives an in-depth insight into his life story.

Jay mused: “I’m in a position where people are looking at me and the articles written about me and so on and so forth, and I thought, ‘You know what, let me tell people exactly what’s happened to me and where I’ve got to where I’ve got to.’

“A lot of people just know me as Jay from The Repair Shop but no one knows the true me.”

He added: “And knowing the true me will inspire people to achieve things at the later times of their lives.

“Or just show people that no matter where you’re from you can actually achieve something.”

Jay Blades’ Making It: How Love, Kindness and Community Helped Me Repair My Life is published by BlueBird and is available to purchase now.

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