The Repair Shop's Jay Blades on devastating moment amid marriage split

ok.co.uk:

Dame Judi Dench, the legendary actress, and TV host Jay Blades have embarked on a unique journey together for a new one-off documentary, The Odd Couple.The pair first met three years ago when Judi appeared on The Repair Shop, hoping the skilled restorers could restore a pocket watch that belonged to her late husband, Michael Williams.

During the new show, Judi took Jay to visit her late husband's grave in a heart-wrenching moment.The idea for the show came from Judi's daughter, Finty, who suggested during a chat with Jay that he should collaborate with her mum. "We were having a chat; I was just seeing how her mum was doing," recalls Jay, 54. "She said, 'Mum would love to work with you,' And I said, 'I'd love to work with her,' 'Think of some ideas Jay,' is what she said.

So, I did, and we started thinking about places we could go together - places that she holds dearly to her, and places I hold dearly to me." One of the locations Judi takes Jay to in the documentary is The Old Vic theatre in London, where she has performed in numerous stage productions over the years. "Jay had never been to a London theatre and so we chose The Old Vic as it had been a place where I spent the first four years of my career," she explains. "I found it a very emotional place to revisit and I think Jay shared much of the same emotion." Sign up to OK's TV newsletter to get updates sent to your inbox for free Opening up about his struggles with dyslexia, Jay recounted the nerve-wracking moment he had to read Shakespeare in front of acting royalty Judi Dench at the theatre.This was a significant challenge for him because, as he previously revealed in his 2021 BBC documentary Learning to Read at 51, reading aloud is not his forte. "It felt.