Jay Blades, the star of BBC's The Repair Shop, has bravely shared his mental health struggles.
He revealed that he once tried to take his own life and was almost sectioned by doctors after his marriage and business fell apart. Jay opened up about this dark time in his life on Waitrose's Dish podcast, chatting with hosts Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett.
He spoke about moving from High Wycombe to Wolverhampton, explaining that he had a mental breakdown eight years ago when his first marriage to Jade ended, with whom he shares a daughter named Zola.
"Everything flopped for me. The business, the relationship, everything. It was a charity and we also had a business, and then I was running it with my ex-wife," he said.
Jay went on to describe how he felt so low that he couldn't see a future for himself. "And basically, I couldn't see myself being in tomorrow, if that makes sense. As I couldn't see myself being in tomorrow, what happened was I got in a car, got on the M40 and was looking for a bridge to crash into."
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Jay is now married to fitness trainer Lisa Marie, with the couple tying the knot in 2022 (David Fisher/REX/Shutterstock for NTA)
Jay opened up on his mental health struggles (Getty Images for BAFTA)Luckily, Jay couldn't find a bridge without a barrier. After driving on the M5, he had to stop for petrol. "I filled up with some petrol, went to a retail park, sat in there for about a week," he said.
Jay explained that after a week of living in his car, he went to a hotel to wash up. "I'm walking across this car park and I could feel someone's presence and I looked behind me and there's no one there - it was my body odour. It had its own postcode, " he explained.
He continued: "I went to a hotel, told the guy, 'Oh look mate, I'm just gonna go get some shower gel and I'll come back, here's the money for the room but I smell a bit.' Normally people would say, 'Oh no, no, you don't smell.' But this guy just stood back."
Jay then returned with his shower gel to find five people waiting for him in his room. "There was a psychiatric nurse, I think there were two of them, and then there was another really stern person, like a major, and then there were two police officers."
He added that these people were there to section him under the Mental Health Act, which allows a person to be detained and treated without their agreement if they are considered a danger to themselves or others.
"They started interviewing me, and all this time I'm thinking, I wanted to take a shower, I need to have a bath, I stink. And it was only when they said to me, 'Oh, we don't have to section him.' And I was like, who are you sectioning? Because I'd done twenty years in community and I knew what sectioning was," he concluded.
"And then they said, 'I was gonna section you, 'cause we thought you was gonna be a harm to yourself and harm others,' and all that kind of stuff. And then they left me and because they had notified my ex-wife, she then notified a guy that was living in Wolverhampton who I got on quite well with, and then he came and got me. And that's how I've stayed in Wolverhampton. So that's the reason why I'm there, and that was in 2015."
Since hitting rock bottom, Jay has gone from strength to strength, starring in The Repair Shop from 2017 and hosting shows like David and Jay's Touring Toolshed, Britain's Best Beach Huts, Jay Blades' East End Through Time and Money for Nothing. He is now married to fitness trainer Lisa Marie, with the couple tying the knot in 2022.
*If you're struggling and need to talk, the Samaritans operate a free helpline open 24/7 on 116 123. Alternatively, you can email jo@samaritans.org or visit their site to find your local branch
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