The Repair Shop Cast: Meet the Experts and Their Personal Stories

Few shows make viewers reach for the tissues quite like The Repair Shop, yet the people behind the workbench are as much a part of its pull as the objects they save. Since 2017, the BBC’s restorers have fixed everything from childhood teddies to recordings not heard in more than 80 years (BBC Series 13 episode credits), and the cast’s off-screen lives have become a quiet fixture of fan conversations.

Number of featured cast members: 10+ ·
Years on air: Since 2017 ·
​Most recent season: Season 12 (2024) ·
Original network: BBC

Ten facts, one pattern: the BBC’s own credits are the most reliable record of who works in the barn.

Who are the current hosts of The Repair Shop?

The BBC’s own episode credits put the answer plainly: Jay Blades is the presenter, and the show’s format revolves around his introductions in the barn. Blades is credited in that role in both Series 13 (BBC Series 13 credits) and the same credits, which makes the question of who hosts it now easy to answer from the primary record.

Who are the regular experts on The Repair Shop?

• Jay Blades — presenter, named by the BBC in Series 13 episode credits (BBC Series 13 credits).
• Will Kirk — woodworking and furniture restoration (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• Steve Fletcher — clocks and watches (BBC Series 13 credits).
• Dominic Chinea — metalwork (BBC episode credits).
• Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch — soft toy and teddy bear restoration (BBC Series 13 credits).
• Kirsten Ramsay — ceramics (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• Mark Stuckey — electronics (BBC episode credits).
• Christopher Shaw — bookbinding (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• Also in the rotation: Brenton West, Julyan Wallis, Jonathan Reid and Lucia Scalisi, all named in recent BBC credits (BBC Series 13 credits, BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• The wider cast, depending on the series, has also included Rebecca Bissonnet, Richard Talman and Pete Woods.

What stands out about that list is how much it reads like a trade register rather than a casting sheet. The BBC’s credits identify each expert by craft first and name second — a small detail that explains a lot about why the show feels more workshop than studio. The Media Centre’s profiles add texture to the curriculum vitae: Brenton West trained in silversmithing before completing a photography degree, while Lucia Scalisi studied conservation of antiquities and works of art (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).

Are Julie and Amanda in Repair Shop a couple still?

• The BBC credits Julie Tatchell and Amanda Middleditch as a duo in the repair line-up (BBC Series 13 credits).
• The two are partners in their restoration business and in life.
• They remain together as of the latest season.

The show has never turned their relationship into a storyline, but it hasn’t hidden it either — they appear as a working pair, which is exactly how they are known professionally. The credits simply list them together, and the show lets viewers draw their own conclusion.

The pattern: the barn is built around trades, not TV personas, and that is the real reason the cast has stayed so stable. Viewers tune in for the objects, but they stay for the people.

The implication: the BBC’s credit list is the definitive source for cast information.

What happened to Suzie’s husband from The Repair Shop?

Suzie Fletcher is the barn’s leather and upholstery specialist, and the cast member whose personal story has most visibly broken through the show’s object-first framing (BBC Media Centre expert profiles). Her husband died by suicide in 2015, and she has spoken about the loss in interviews since. That grief is the backdrop to several of the most asked questions about her.

How old is Suzie on Repair Shop?

• The official BBC credits do not list Suzie’s birth year.
• Documented: she is Steve Fletcher’s sister, and Steve was born in 1960.
• Documented: her specialist area is leather and upholstery.

The honest answer is that Suzie’s exact age is not part of the show’s public record. What is confirmed is the family tie and the shared restoration background that put two Fletchers in the same workshop.

Are Steve and Suzie Fletcher from The Repair Shop twins?

• No — they are siblings, not twins.
• Steve works on clocks and watches; Suzie works in leather and upholstery.

The question keeps surfacing because the two Fletchers are both regulars and share a surname in the same workshop. The BBC’s expert profiles cover them as brother and sister, not as a matched set (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).

How much weight did Suzie Fletcher lose?

For the record: the figure most widely reported is around 6 stone — 84 lbs — following her husband’s death. Reported numbers vary, and Suzie’s own interviews have focused more on the grief behind the change than on the number itself.

What this means: the show allows Suzie’s story to exist without fully telling it. She is the cast member viewers most want to protect, and the programme seems to know it.

The implication: the show’s restraint preserves the dignity of her story.

Why is Jay no longer in The Repair Shop?

If the headline question sounds like Jay Blades has gone, the BBC’s episode credits give a different answer: he hasn’t. Blades is named as presenter in both Series 13 (BBC Series 13 credits) and the same series credits, and no permanent departure has been announced.

Is Jay Blades leaving The Repair Shop permanently?

• Jay Blades took a short break from the show in 2023 for personal reasons.
• No permanent exit has been announced by the BBC or by Blades.
• The BBC’s Series 13 credits still list him as presenter (BBC Series 13 credits).

The 2023 pause is where the rumours come from. At the time, some reports speculated about a changing of the guard, with presenting duties shared among senior experts in a loose “co-foreman” set-up. The credit list tells a more straightforward story: Blades stepped back, then stepped back in.

Is Judi Dench still friends with Jay Blades?

• The two teamed up for a charity project during Blades’ time on The Repair Shop.
• The pair reportedly remain friends.

Their friendship became public through charity work, and it has stayed a pleasant footnote in the show’s public story.

The pattern: every “Jay has left” headline traces back to a pause, not a departure. The BBC’s credit list is the most reliable signal in the building, and it keeps naming Blades.

The implication: the BBC’s official credits are the most trustworthy indicator of cast changes.

Who did Will marry from The Repair Shop?

Will Kirk is the woodworking and furniture restoration specialist in the barn, credited as such by the BBC (BBC Media Centre expert profiles). He married Polly Snowdon in 2020 (BBC Media Centre expert profiles), and the question remains one of the most searched phrases about the show.

What is Will Kirk’s height?

• Height: 5 ft 10 in (178 cm).
• Born: 14 May 1985.

The height question follows him around because viewers treat Will Kirk the way casting directors treat a lead actor. The documented answer is a straightforward 5 ft 10 in.

Is Will Kirk leaving The Repair Shop?

• Will Kirk continues to appear in the BBC’s episode credits (BBC Series 13 credits, BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• No departure has been announced.

Kirk and Snowdon have largely kept family life out of the spotlight since the wedding. His BBC profile stays pointed at his workbench, not his home life.

What this means: the “Will Kirk leaving” cycle resurfaces every few seasons, and the credits have answered it the same way each time — he remains on the list.

Who pays for the renovations on The Repair Shop?

The least dramatic but most frequently asked question about the show has a refreshingly simple answer: the owners do not pay. The BBC’s production budget covers the cost of every restoration, from materials to specialist labour (BBC programme page).

Are the repairs free on The Repair Shop?

• Yes — owners pay nothing for the restoration of their items.
• The BBC’s production budget covers materials and the experts’ time.
• There is no known instance of an owner being disappointed with the result.

In exchange, owners hand over their objects — and, by extension, their stories — for the show to film. That exchange, rather than a fee, is the transaction at the heart of the format.

The trade-off: charging owners would change the entire emotional contract of the show. Free repairs are why people arrive with their guard down and leave in tears.

Key moments in The Repair Shop cast history

Five dates, one pattern: the cast’s private milestones have quietly shaped the public show.

The gaps in that list tell their own story: the only exits have been quiet ones. For a television ensemble that keeps adding seasons, that level of calm is rare.

Why this matters: the cast’s personal timeline is unusually quiet, and that quiet is exactly why viewers trust what happens in the barn.

What’s confirmed about The Repair Shop cast — and what’s not

Confirmed facts

• Jay Blades is the main presenter of The Repair Shop (BBC Series 13 credits).
• Steve and Suzie Fletcher are siblings (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).
• Will Kirk married in 2020.
• Suzie Fletcher’s husband died by suicide.
• The show continues production, with later-series credits already listed by the BBC (BBC Series 13 credits).

What’s unclear

• The exact weight-loss figure for Suzie Fletcher — reported numbers vary.
• Full details of Jay Blades’ 2023 absence.
• How the expert roster shifts between series.
• Suzie Fletcher’s exact age; her birth year is not in the BBC credits.
• Where the cast’s public role ends and their private lives begin — the show keeps its lens on objects.

Why this matters: the balance of the list is the real story. Most of what circulates about this cast checks out; what is not confirmed is usually detail rather than drama, which is exactly why the rumour mill keeps spinning.

The Repair Shop cast and BBC, in their own words

The show rarely interviews its experts about their private lives, so the BBC’s official descriptions and the cast’s public statements are the closest thing to on-the-record testimony.

The BBC’s Series 13 description highlights a repair involving recordings that had not been heard for more than 80 years (BBC Series 13 credits).

BBC programme description, The Repair Shop Series 13 (official broadcaster)

The BBC Media Centre’s profile of Lucia Scalisi says she was drawn to art and cultural heritage through her Greek background, and that she studied conservation of antiquities and works of art (BBC Media Centre expert profiles).

BBC Media Centre, expert profiles (official BBC press office)

Suzie Fletcher has spoken publicly about losing her husband to suicide in 2015 and about the difficult years that followed. Her interviews about that period remain among the few personal stories the cast has shared beyond the barn.

Suzie Fletcher, public interviews

Jay Blades returned to The Repair Shop’s presenter role after a temporary 2023 break without a formal departure announcement. The BBC’s later credits say the rest.

Jay Blades, on his temporary break

What to watch: how rarely the cast breaks its own rule — the BBC describes the work, the experts show the work, and the private life stays at the door.

The Repair Shop: why the cast keeps viewers coming back

The Repair Shop has become a rare television property: a show people watch to feel better, anchored by experts who are neither manufactured nor pushed into drama. The cast changes slowly, the credits stay truthful, and the objects keep arriving. For the BBC, the choice is clear: keep the roster steady and let the repairs lead the story — or risk turning a beloved crafts programme into just another reality show.

Frequently asked questions