The Repair Shop Cast: Experts, Ages, and Personal Lives

Key facts at a glance

Eleven facts, one pattern: the BBC built the show around specialists whose trades were already established long before the cameras arrived.

The pattern across these facts is clear: the show’s authority rests on documented trade backgrounds, not speculative personal numbers.

Is The Repair Shop still being made?

Yes — the barn is still open. A 2024 Daily Express cast profile covers the current series and the active expert line-up, and the BBC’s official programme pages still list the show. As of 2024, the show has completed 13 series, according to the BBC’s programme listings, with Jay Blades fronting the workshop.

The format hasn’t changed: owners bring in damaged objects, the in-house experts restore them, and the emotional reveal lands at the end — a structure the BBC has aired across BBC One and BBC Two (BBC programme listing).

The implication: rumours of the barn’s closure are premature. The 2024 cast profiles and the continuing series both point to a programme the BBC still treats as a going concern.

Is Sonnaz from The Repair Shop married?

The straightforward answer is that it’s not publicly documented. Sonnaz Nooranvary, one of the specialists in the current Repair Shop line-up, has no marital status confirmed in the BBC’s official media pages or in the cast profiles reviewed here.

Are Julie and Amanda in Repair Shop a couple still?

• Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell are the experts known as the Bear Ladies, restoring soft toys and dolls (BBC programme listing).
• The pair founded their joint business, Bear It in Mind, in 2006 (Daily Express cast profile).
• Neither the BBC nor the pair has publicly confirmed a romantic relationship.

The public record, in other words, identifies them as long-time business partners and friends. Their on-screen warmth makes the question easy to understand — but the BBC’s listings stick to the professional facts.

The pattern: the show delivers enormous emotional intimacy about objects while keeping the cast’s private lives almost entirely off the record — which is exactly why the internet keeps filling the gap with guesses.

Who is Kirsten on The Repair Shop?

Kirsten Ramsay is the show’s ceramics conservator — the specialist who pieces shattered china, figurines and heirlooms back together. According to the BBC programme listing, she trained at West Dean College and has worked at the British Museum.

Who runs The Repair Shop now?

• Jay Blades presents the show and leads the on-screen reveals (Daily Express cast profile).
• The craft specialists run their own benches: Steve Fletcher on clocks and watches, Suzie Fletcher on saddlery and leather, Will Kirk on furniture, Dominic Chinea on metalwork and signs, Kirsten Ramsay on ceramics, and the Bear Ladies on soft toys (BBC programme listing).

So “running the shop” depends on what you mean. On screen, that’s Jay Blades — he fronts the show and carries the reveals. In the workshop itself, each expert is the boss of their own trade, and the BBC’s listings treat them as working specialists rather than performers.

Is there a new presenter on The Repair Shop?

• As of 2024, Jay Blades remains the presenter; no handover has been announced (Daily Express cast profile).
• Dominic Chinea, the metalworker, joined in the show’s second series (Daily Express cast profile).

The presenter question keeps coming up because Blades has expanded into other BBC work, including Money for Nothing — but the BBC’s programme listings still name him in the same role.

The takeaway: the team around Blades has grown since 2017, but the presenter’s chair hasn’t changed hands.

How old is Suzie Fletcher?

The BBC hasn’t published Suzie Fletcher’s birth year, and she hasn’t given a public birth date in the materials reviewed. What her BBC biography does say: she began training in the saddlery trade in the mid-1970s, at the age of 14.

Do the maths from her own account: a 14-year-old starting in the mid-1970s points to a birth year in the early 1960s, putting her in her early 60s as of 2024. That’s a careful estimate, not an official record.

How rich is Jay Blades?

• A January 2024 Daily Express cast profile described Jay Blades as 53 years old.
• No verified net-worth figure exists in the BBC’s official materials; online estimates vary and none carries official weight.
• What is documented: he has fronted The Repair Shop since 2017 and also presents other BBC work, including Money for Nothing (Daily Express cast profile).

The trade-off: viewers want the same neat bio data that celebrity culture normally provides, but The Repair Shop’s official pages are deliberately light on personal numbers — which is itself a statement about where the show’s value lies.

Are the repairs actually done in The Repair Shop?

Yes — and the strongest evidence is the cast’s off-screen careers. These aren’t actors with power tools; they’re working tradespeople.

• Steve Fletcher is a horologist — a clock-and-watch specialist whose family clock business dates to 1910 (Daily Express cast profile; BBC biography).
• Suzie Fletcher is a master saddler with more than 40 years of restoration experience (BBC biography).
• Will Kirk is a carpenter, cabinet-maker and furniture restorer who set up his own Wandsworth workshop in 2012 (Daily Express cast profile).
• Kirsten Ramsay is a trained ceramics conservator who has worked at the British Museum (BBC programme listing).
• Dominic Chinea is a metalworker and sign restorer (BBC programme listing).

The BBC’s programme materials describe these experts by their real trades — which is exactly why the restorations on screen carry weight. The person holding the tool does that job for a living.

Has anyone been unhappy with The Repair Shop?

One honest caveat: the same sources are also light on the rare guest who wished the outcome had been different. The public record simply doesn’t contain a documented Repair Shop grievance — which is unusual, and worth saying out loud.

Why this matters: authenticity is the show’s contract with viewers. The moment the repairs stopped being real, the format would lose its reason to exist — and the cast’s professional track records are the evidence that they are real.

The Repair Shop timeline: key moments

Eight dates, one pattern: a small restoration show kept growing because the BBC trusted the same core team with bigger audiences.

The takeaway: the show’s growth was steady rather than explosive — and the biggest change over eight years wasn’t the presenter, but the size of the audience watching him.

Confirmed facts vs. what’s still unclear

Confirmed facts

• The Repair Shop is still in production as of 2024, with 13 series to date (Daily Express cast profile; BBC programme listing).
• Jay Blades has presented the show since 2017 (Daily Express cast profile).
• Steve and Suzie Fletcher are siblings, and both appear in the barn (Suzie Fletcher’s BBC biography).
• Kirsten Ramsay is a ceramics conservator who trained at West Dean College and has worked at the British Museum (BBC programme listing).

What’s unclear

• Sonnaz Nooranvary’s marital status — not publicly confirmed.
• Whether Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch are a couple — not publicly confirmed.
• Suzie Fletcher’s exact age — her birth year has not been published.
• Jay Blades’ net worth — estimates vary, with no official figure.
• Amanda Middleditch and Julie Tatchell founded their Bear It in Mind business in 2006 (attributed to Daily Express, but not independently verified).

The gap between the two lists is the show’s defining quirk: it produces enormous emotional intimacy on screen while keeping the cast’s own biographies almost entirely off the record.

The cast in their own words

“It’s not about the money; it’s about saving memories.”

Jay Blades, in a 2023 interview with The Guardian

“I’m a saddle maker, but I can fix almost anything made of leather.”

Suzie Fletcher, in a 2024 interview with Yahoo News UK

Read the two together and you get the whole show: a presenter who frames the work emotionally, and a specialist who defines herself by her trade. One half saves memories; the other half fixes leather.

What to make of The Repair Shop cast

The Repair Shop has built its audience on a simple promise: the people in the barn are the real thing. The BBC’s official pages document their trades, their training and their working histories, while the personal details — ages, relationships, wealth — stay deliberately vague. For viewers deciding whether to keep watching, the choice is clear: trust the show’s records, ignore the speculative numbers, and expect another series from a team that hasn’t stopped working.

Related reading

• Meet the Experts of the BBC Show
• Meet the Experts and Their Personal Stories

Explore more detailed profiles and personal stories of the Repair Shop experts on Kiwipress.

Frequently asked questions

The FAQ confirms that the show’s production details are public, but many personal and procedural specifics remain officially unconfirmed.