Jay Blades: 'Listening to people's stories can be testing on the emotions'

The award-winning furniture restorer and BBC TV presenter shares his secrets with Eve Kelliher during his visit to Cork

Jay Blades (BBC's The Repair Shop) at Casey's Furniture, Oliver Plunkett Street, Cork. Pictures: Dan Linehan

Jay Blades credits a chair he bought at a garage sale in Wolverhampton for kickstarting his passion for revamping preloved furniture.

The rest is history — the London native, best known as the presenter of BBC1’s The Repair Shop, is stopped by fans from across the globe everywhere he goes.