Justin Lee Collins

Justin Lee Collins
Collins signing autobiography "Goodtimes"
Born	(1974-07-28) 28 July 1974 Southmead, Bristol, England
Medium	Radio, television, music
Nationality	British
Years active	1997–present
Subject(s)	Celebrities
Spouse	Karen Collins (2003[1]–2010, separated)[2]
Notable works and roles	FAQ U The Convention Crasher The Friday Night Project Bring Back... The Justin Lee Collins Show Heads or Tails Good Times Turning Japanese

Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an English comedian, television presenter and West End actor^[3] Collins is known for presenting shows such as Bring Back... and The Friday Night Project, which he co-presented with Alan Carr, and its Sunday spin-off. Other notable works include The Convention Crasher and Justin Lee Collins: Turning Japanese.

Early life

Collins was born on 28 July 1974 in Southmead, Bristol, to Anita and Danny Collins, a self-employed electrician.^[4][5] Collins is an only child. In 1990, Collins left education at Speedwell Technology College at the age of 15 with no qualifications and started working at Marks & Spencer as a warehouse operative.^[5][6]

Personal life

Collins' ex-wife Karen (married 2003–2010)^[7] gave birth to their first child, a boy called Archie, on 16 May 2005.^[8] During his appearance on UK daytime television show This Morning on 17 January 2008, Collins announced that his wife had recently given birth to their second son, Harvey.^[9] Collins separated from his wife in late 2010.^[2]

Collins began a relationship with Anna Larke, November 2010.^[10] They lived together in Kew, London from January to July 2011.^[11] In December 2011, Collins was charged with Section 4 harassment (causing fear of violence), in relation to alleged harassment of her.^[12] On 24 September 2012, Collins appeared at St Albans Crown Court, when the jury was sworn in and the case adjourned until 26 September.^[13] On 9 October, he was convicted of harassment causing fear of violence by a 10–1 majority verdict (one juror having been discharged), and sentenced to 140 hours of community service and to pay £3,500 prosecution costs.^[11] He did not appeal against his conviction.^[14]

Collins now lives alone in Kew.^[15]

In 2010 he helped launch the Bristol charity Shine Together, which aims to benefit patients at Southmead Hospital.^[16]

Collins was fined £327 for speeding on a motorway near Bristol in July 2013.^[17]

Career

Stand-up comedy

He started as a stand-up comic, while working part-time as a double-glazing window demonstrator, winning best New Comedy Act at the Glastonbury Festival in 1997 and reached the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival the same year.^[18] Collins gave up stand-up comedy in 2002 to concentrate on TV and radio presenting, stating that he never intends to return to the profession.^[6]

In 2007 and 2010, Collins won "Funniest Man" at Loaded's LAFTA awards.^[19]

Radio

Collins began hosting a radio show on XFM in 2003, initially on Sundays at 1 to 3 am, later progressing to Saturday afternoons from 3 to 6 pm. He left in December 2005 and returned to host the Saturday 2 to 6pm slot during April 2011.

Collins was heard performing a Tom Jones impersonation on BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show in January 2008.^[20]

Collins sat in for Dermot O'Leary's Saturday show on BBC Radio 2 on 17 September 2011.

Television work

Collins in 2007

In 2002, Collins made shows for Bravo and MTV and became the host of the companion show for the first series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was replaced by Claudia Winkleman the following year and the show moved from BBC Three to BBC Two.

In 2005 and 2006, Collins presented The Games: Live At Trackside on E4 alongside Caroline Flack. The series was the companion show to Channel 4's sports-based reality programme The Games.

He was also one of the presenters of Channel 4 and Paramount's Flipside TV.

Collins presented The Friday Night Project (later known as The Sunday Night Project) for Channel 4 alongside Alan Carr for three years from 2006 to 2009. He has also hosted a number of Bring Back... shows in which he aims to reunite groups, normally who are associated with TV or music. He also made a series for Channel 4 entitled The Convention Crasher, aired in late 2007 and early 2008, in which he learned skills such as clowning and ventriloquism in an attempt to win prizes at professional conventions.

On 7 May 2007, he became the latest "celebrity friend" of Paul O'Grady to fill the comic's shoes as guest presenter on The New Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 when O'Grady took a break.

Collins appeared on Top Gear with Alan Carr on 22 June 2008, for the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car segment.^[21] His most recent programme was entitled Bring Back Star Trek and featured him trying to bring back the cast of the popular 1960s television series.

He signed a £3 million deal with ITV for a show which focused on topical issues, but with a comedic twist, titled The Justin Lee Collins Show on ITV2 which ran from March to May 2009.

In 2009 Collins became the host of the Sky1 show Oops tv, which shows home videos of people doing stupid things and things going badly wrong.

JLC Is, a six-part series on Sky1 HD in August 2009 showed the comedian taking on challenges to become a Mexican Wrestler, a Surfer, a Ballroom Dancer, a Ten Pin Bowler, a High Diver and a West End Star.^[22]

On 11 September 2009, whilst being interviewed on BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show it was announced that Collins had signed an exclusive deal with Channel 5, and Collins confirmed that he would therefore not be making another series of The Justin Lee Collins Show for ITV2. On joining Five he hosted the game show Heads Or Tails, where players can win up to £1m by correctly calling coin flips and a chat show called Good Times which has since been cancelled due to poor viewing figures.^[23]

Darts

In June 2008, a show was aired on Sky One entitled Justin Lee Collins: 180, which followed his quest to be a professional darts player. In the show, he practised with Keith Deller and played in the BDO International Open on 15 June 2008. He lost in the first round 3-0 in legs to county player Stuart Bousfield, who was in the top 100 in the BDO rankings at the time.^[24]

The Wrestler

In Justin Lee Collins: The Wrestler, Collins trains for 10 days in Mexico with a Mexican transvestite Luchador (Mexican wrestler) who fights under the name Cassandro, as an exotico. Justin adopts a rudo (bad guy) Luchador persona, El Glorioso, or the Glorious One, with his own wrestling mask. His persona is given the blessing of El Hijo del Santo (The Son of Saint). Returning to London, Justin fights Cassandro in a Lucha libre event in the Roundhouse, ultimately losing and being unmasked.^[25]

Singing

Eurovision Song Contest

After failing to be chosen to represent the United Kingdom in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, on 22 January 2010 Collins announced on RTÉ's The Late Late Show his intention to seek the nomination to represent Ireland. His proposed song was written by Boyzone star Ronan Keating.^[26] RTÉ confirmed on 9 February 2010 that the song had not been short listed for the Irish final.^[27]

Musical theatre

Collins has performed in professional musical theatre in London's famous West End. Collins learned to perform on the musical stage for a TV programme on Sky One, gaining a part in the hit show Chicago. Playing alongside Aoife Mulholland (as his wife Roxie Hart), Collins rehearsed for the role of Amos Hart at the Cambridge Theatre. Collins said of the role, "I'm over the moon to be playing the sexiest part in the best show on the West End stage. I've already gone through a dozen pairs of tights."^[28]

From August 2011 to September 2012 Collins played Dennis Dupree in the West End production of Rock of Ages.

Book

In September 2009 Collins' autobiography Good Times! was published by Ebury Press.

Television credits

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Justin Lee Collins.

• Justin Lee Collins at the Internet Movie Database