The Repair Shop Cast 2026: Who’s In, Who Left, and What’s Next

Few workshops on British TV feel as lived-in as the barn in The Repair Shop, where family heirlooms arrive broken and leave with a second life, and the cast behind that quiet magic is a working guild of specialist restorers — Will Kirk, the furniture restorer born on 14 May 1985 (Will Kirk’s Wikipedia profile records the date), is a good place to start. The trick is telling which of those names are confirmed for the 2026 series and which are still rumours.

Broadcaster: BBC · Premiered: 2017 · Former presenter: Jay Blades · Will Kirk birth date: 14 May 1985 · Sibling status: Steve and Suzie Fletcher are not twins

The snapshot already shows the split: the craft roster is confirmed, the presenter seat is not.

Twelve rows, one pattern: the craft specialists are stable; the presenter seat is the only confirmed change.

What is the British TV show “The Repair Shop”?

The Repair Shop is a British series made for the BBC in which specialist restorers bring treasured items back to working order (Wikipedia’s series page). Guests hand over broken clocks, worn leather, damaged paintings and childhood toys; the barn’s team returns them in working condition.

Who pays for the renovations on The Repair Shop?

• The repairs shown on screen are free to the owners; the BBC covers the production, so there is no invoice at the barn door (BBC programme records).
• “Renovations” is the misleading part of this search: nothing here is a property renovation, and no one is paying for a new kitchen.

The phrase probably comes from viewers who think of the barn as a workshop makeover show. It isn’t. The objects change; the workshop doesn’t.

What types of objects are restored on The Repair Shop?

• Clocks and watches, furniture and wood, leather and saddlery, metalwork and mechanical pieces, jewellery, ceramics, paintings, soft toys and upholstery — that’s the full spread across the expert bench (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

Each category maps to a named specialist, which is why cast lists and object lists tend to read the same way. Steve Fletcher is the clock bench; Suzie Fletcher is the leather bench; Will Kirk is the furniture bench; Dom Chinea is metalwork.

The pattern: the show’s premise is about craft permanence — objects survive, workshops stay constant, people change slowly.

The implication: the show’s format can survive presenter changes because the craft team remains the constant.

Who is Dom on The Repair Shop?

Dom is Dominic Chinea, the workshop’s metalwork and mechanical-restoration specialist. Wikipedia’s series entry also lists him as a co-foreman since Jay Blades’ departure (Wikipedia’s series page).

What does Dom Chinea do on The Repair Shop?

• Metalwork restoration — from cast-iron pieces to vintage machinery.
• Mechanical jobs that need the lathe, including replacement parts for objects that no longer exist in the shops.
• Co-foreman duties alongside Will Kirk after Jay Blades’ exit (Wikipedia’s series page).

Who are the other expert restorers on The Repair Shop?

• Steve Fletcher — clocks and watches.
• Suzie Fletcher — leather and saddlery.
• Will Kirk — furniture and wood restoration.
• Kirsten Ramsay — silversmithing and jewellery.
• Lucia Scalisi — painting conservation.
• Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch — soft toys and dolls.
• Sonnaz Nooranvary — upholstery.

The grouping follows the specialist list in Tuko’s 2026 cast report, which names the craftspeople working across the barn (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

The implication: each expert is a category, not a celebrity. That’s exactly why the cast keeps its value — every face in the barn is a functional role.

The catch: knowing each expert’s role helps viewers understand the 2026 lineup.

Are Suzie and Steve Fletcher twins?

No. Steve and Suzie Fletcher are siblings — Suzie is the elder — and the series’ record identifies them as brother and sister, not twins (Wikipedia’s series page). The twin rumour is a recurring search artefact, not a fact in any reviewed cast list.

How old is Suzie on Repair Shop?

• No birth date for Suzie Fletcher is published in the reviewed cast records (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).
• She is the older sister, but the exact age gap isn’t stated in the materials reviewed.

The precision about her being older comes from the same sibling record — the rest is fan math.

How old is Kirsten from The Repair Shop in real life?

• Kirsten Ramsay’s exact age isn’t confirmed in the materials reviewed (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).
• She is not a Fletcher; her craft is silversmithing and jewellery work.

Age questions on the cast tend to get answered with the same recycled interviews; none is reproduced in the sources here.

The trade-off: searches want tidy ages, but the record only supports what the cast lists confirm — craft, family links and screen roles.

Are Julie and Amanda in Repair Shop a couple still?

Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch are restoration specialists who appear together in the barn, mainly on soft toys and dolls (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

The relationship half of the question has no confirmation in the reviewed materials. The phrasing “a couple still” implies a status that was never officially reported.

Who are Julie and Amanda on The Repair Shop?

• Julie Tatchell — soft-toy restoration.
• Amanda Middleditch — soft-toy and doll restoration.
• They are listed together in cast roundups because they work as a team, not because the show labels their private life.

What is their role in the workshop?

• Teddy bears, dolls and childhood keepsakes are their main focus (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).
• They sit in the rotating specialist bench rather than the core furniture-and-metalwork crew.

None of the sources reviewed describes their personal relationship, so the accurate answer to “are they a couple?” is “not confirmed”.

The trade-off: a visible on-screen partnership invites personal questions, but without a statement from the pair or the BBC, speculation stays speculation.

Why did the presenter leave The Repair Shop?

Jay Blades was the original presenter and foreman of the barn. He fronted the show from its 2017 launch until he stepped back from television work in 2024 (BBC programme records).

Is there a new presenter on The Repair Shop?

• Will Kirk and Dominic Chinea have acted as co-foremen since Blades’ exit (Wikipedia’s series page).
• No single permanent replacement presenter is named in the records reviewed (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

Who is no longer on The Repair Shop?

• Jay Blades is no longer on the presenter team (BBC programme records).
• No other regular expert is confirmed as departed in the materials reviewed.

The BBC confirmed in 2024 that he would not continue as presenter (BBC programme records). The programme has continued without a single named anchor, which is unusual for a primetime BBC format.

Why this matters: the format absorbs a host change more easily than a craft change, because viewers return to see Suzie’s stitching and Steve’s escapements, not a single anchor.

The pattern: the presenter gap is the only major open question for the upcoming series.

Who will be in the cast of The Repair Shop in 2026?

A full, confirmed 2026 cast list is not yet available in the materials reviewed. The core bench — Steve, Suzie, Will, Dom and Kirsten — is still described as active, while the presenter slot remains open (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

Who is the new girl on The Repair Shop?

• “The new girl” is not a phrase used in any reviewed cast list; it comes from audience chatter about a recently added female expert (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).
• The only newly reported specialist in the materials is Ray Walters, and that report concerns The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn rather than the main series (The Mirror’s cast-changes report).

Is Will Kirk leaving The Repair Shop?

• No departure announcement for Will Kirk appears in the reviewed records (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).
• He remains listed as a furniture-restoration expert and co-foreman in the series’ current record (Wikipedia’s series page).

That makes Kirk “unconfirmed as leaving”, which is different from “confirmed as staying”. The 2026 roster will only harden when the BBC publishes the new series details.

The catch: “cast 2026” searches are running ahead of the evidence. The roster that matters will be the one on screen, not the one in speculative roundups.

What this means: the 2026 cast will likely mirror the current bench until the BBC issues official details.

The Repair Shop cast timeline

• 14 May 1985 — Will Kirk, the barn’s furniture restorer, is born (Will Kirk’s Wikipedia profile).
• 2017 — The Repair Shop begins on the BBC (BBC programme records).
• 2024 — Jay Blades steps back; the BBC confirms he won’t continue as presenter (BBC programme records).
• 2026 — Return-date reports conflict (25 February versus 18 March), and the full cast list stays unconfirmed (Tuko’s 2026 cast report).

The only neutral check for the schedule is the BBC’s own episode list, which is still the best tie-breaker when roundups disagree (BBC programme records).

The pattern: every major cast question since 2024 traces back to one event — the presenter handover. The craft bench itself has been remarkably stable.

Confirmed facts vs open questions

One way to read the Repair Shop cast is to split the record into what a source confirms and what a search implies.

That imbalance is the story: the confirmed column rests on BBC and programme records, the open column on what those records don’t say.

The implication: any article that prints a complete 2026 cast list without a BBC confirmation is probably filling gaps with fan speculation.

What the sources say about the cast

Jay Blades, the original foreman of the barn, stepped back from the series in 2024; the BBC confirmed he would not continue as presenter.

BBC programme records

Will Kirk’s profile records his birth date as 14 May 1985 and his workshop craft as wood restoration, carpentry and furniture work.

Wikipedia — Will Kirk

Guitar expert Julyan Wallis has confirmed he will return to the BBC show in 2026 after a break from filming.

Daily Express — 2026 return report

Ray Walters was reported as a new addition to the barn in The Repair Shop: Beyond the Barn, restoring a prisoner-of-war fountain pen.

The Mirror — cast changes report

What this means: the strongest signals about the 2026 cast come from the experts themselves, not from network announcements — which is why a full lineup is still unconfirmed.

The takeaway

The Repair Shop cast is best read as a working guild: every confirmed name is tied to a craft, and every open question is tied to the presenter handover. For viewers planning their 2026 viewing calendar, the decision is clear: trust the BBC’s own programme pages for the return date and cast list, or you’ll be refreshing rumour roundups until the network confirms the roster.

Frequently asked questions

The pattern in the FAQ: craft and credit questions get solid answers; age, relationship and wealth questions do not.