The Repair Shop’s Jay Blades has revealed he didn’t learn to read until he was 51 and that in his eyes the letters are “all ants” moving about on the page.
The furniture restorer and BBC star struggled with reading when he was younger but learned to get around it by asking people for help – even once asking a stranger in the street to read a letter from the hospital to him.
He was diagnosed with dyslexia aged 31 and last year decided it was time to jump in at the “deep end” and tackle his literacy struggles at the age of 51, a journey that he has documented in a new BBC TV programme.
The Mirror quoted Jay as saying: “I wanted to learn to read, for one, and two, to inspire people. To get people like myself to then say, ‘I’m going to take the plunge’.
“But I jumped in at the deep end, like I do with most things, naively, not realising how hard it is.”
The restoration expert said that when he is trying to read “the letters are all ants, they keep on moving around” so he has to try and “hold them down”.
“It is insane, I’m telling you,” said the star, who grew up in Hackney.
“It gives you a headache. Imagine trying to see something that is constantly moving.”
Father-of-three Blades, who is engaged to his partner Lisa-Marie Zbozen, found fame restoring other people’s items on the popular BBC series.
He has also appeared on other programmes including Would I Lie To You?, Jay And Dom’s Home Fix, Money For Nothing, Celebrity MasterChef and the Strictly Christmas special.
The in demand personality has since become a firm favourite with avid TV viewers.
He shot the one-off film Jay Blades: Learning To Read At 51 over six months last year and it is set to air on January 26 on BBC One.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
