'The Repair Shop' Features Some Expensive and Sentimental Restorations — Who Pays for Them?

The BBC One show The Repair Shop shares the love of fixing up beloved treasures. Sure, many of the items presented aren't monetarily expensive, but that's part of the show's charm. Instead, many items featured are purely valuable for their sentimental meaning in someone's life.

However, just because all the items on The Repair Shop aren't expensive (but some definitely are), doesn't mean those repair costs don't add up. So, who actually pays for these services to be completed? Where do they even find people to be featured on the show? Here's what we know.

In an interview with Radio Times, Rob Butterfield, head of factual at The Repair Shop's production company Ricochet, said that the show doesn't charge contestants for repairs — in other words, it pays for everything. "If people wish to make a donation to charity, we’re very happy with that, but it’s by no means necessary," he said.

Although the show is called The Repair Shop, it's not its own business that anyone can walk into and get services from. Butterfield said that the show doesn't offer services when the cameras aren't rolling and that most people who appear on it are found on social media.

Even though the shop exists purely for the show, the experts are 100 percent real, and they all have their own businesses outside of The Repair Shop. So if someone does like their work, they can reach out to them individually. Those who work on the show are pros in their fields, including woodwork, toys, jukeboxes, and more.

Right now, it's unclear whether the experts on The Repair Shop get paid for their time on the show. Because they are experts in their respective fields, it makes sense they would be compensated somehow.

Even if they aren't getting paid, the exposure their craft gets from being on The Repair Shop could bring in new business for each of the experts. Because so many people get to see just how talented they are, it's possible tons of people are seeking them out when the cameras aren't rolling.

Jay Blades, for example, is The Repair Shop's presenter and works on other TV shows, as well. He's been working in this field for years and has his own furniture restoration company called Jay & Co.

Another expert on the show, Steven Fletcher, has been working with watch and clock repairs for so long that it's in his blood. He inherited his business, The Clock Workshop, was started by his grandfather in 1910.

Viewers in the U.K. can watch The Repair Shop on BBC One on Wednesday at 8 p.m. GMT. The show also streams on Discovery Plus in America.