Jay Blades has revealed that he wants to be the first black person to host a primetime game show in the UK in the 21st century.
The star of BBC’s Repair Shop also confessed that he has had to “conform a little bit” on the show, but won’t lose his personality.
The new claim comes as the 51-year-old released his autobiography titled Making It: How Love, Kindness And Community Helped Me Repair My Life.
In it, he bravely talks about being searched and beaten by the police as well as touching on his mental health.
Speaking to the Radio Times, the star admitted he felt “fortunate” about being in his current TV role.
(Image: BBC/Ricochet Ltd/Cody Burridge)
And on future projects, he added: “Someone asked me, what shows do you want to be doing? Do you want to do Strictly? Do you want to do this, do you want to do that?
“I said I’d like to do a game show – a black person has never been a primetime game-show host.
“That’s an institutionally racist organisation doing something that keeps the institution white. Plain and simple. The more you hide it, the less you are able to deal with what it is.”
Jay said that the idea was in the pipeline for a game show.
(Image: BBC/Ricochet Ltd/Steve Peskett)
He also admitted that he “totally disagrees” with a recent study by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that found that although racism persists, there’s no evidence that Britain is institutionally racist.
He said you only have to look at who is on the board of the organisations to see that they’re not inclusive of the people they’re representing.”
In his new book, the star, who is of Bajan heritage, tells of the racism he faced from authorities in the 80s.
In a snippet from the book shared new book, he recalls how he was brutally beaten up by a gang of police officers when he was just 14 years old.
(Image: @Jay_n_Co/Twitter)
Get all the latest celebrity news delivered straight to your inbox
From secret feuds and sexy scandals to the biggest showbiz headlines – we’re serving up a daily dose of gossip.
Get the inside scoop on all your favourite celebs with our daily newsletter delivered straight to your inbox for free.
You can sign up here.
He told how it was around 10pm and he was walking home in North West London: “The back doors swung open and there were five or six uniformed policemen sitting in the van waiting for me,” he said.
“They didn’t even bother to search me. They just beat the s*** out of me.”
He described their act as “brutal”.
Do you have a story to sell? Get in touch with us at [email protected] or call us direct 0207 29 33033.
Originally from https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/repair-shop-star-jay-blades-24129870