Chris Hollins

Chris Hollins
Born Christopher Jonathan Hollins
20 March 1971
Bromley, London, England
Ethnicity English
Occupation Journalist, Presenter, Sportsman
Notable credit(s) BBC Breakfast (2005–12)
Watchdog (2010β€”)
Food Inspectors (2012β€”)
Spouse(s) Sarah Alexander (m. 2012)
Chris Hollins
Personal information
Full nameChristopher Jonathan Hollins
Date of birth20 March 1971
Height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing positionMidfielder
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1994–1995Aldershot Town?(?)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).
Chris Hollins
Personal information
Full name Christopher Jonathan Hollins
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Batting style Right-hand batsman
Bowling style Right-arm off break
Domestic team information
YearsTeam
1994 Oxford University
First-class debut 20 April 1994 Oxford University v Glamorgan
Last First-class 29 June 1994 Oxford University v Cambridge University
Career statistics
Competition First-class
Matches 8
Runs scored 415
Batting average 51.87
100s/50s 1/2
Top score 131
Balls bowled 1419
Wickets 19
Bowling average 46.84
5 wickets in innings 0
10 wickets in match 0
Best bowling 4/64
Catches/stumpings 6/–
Source: CricketArchive, 22 December 2007

Christopher Jonathan "Chris" Hollins (born 20 March 1971) is an English journalist, presenter and sportsman, currently employed by the BBC and best known for being the sports correspondent for BBC Breakfast until 2012, and for winning Strictly Come Dancing 2009. Since 2010, Hollins presents BBC series Watchdog alongside Anne Robinson and Matt Allwright.

Early life

Christopher Jonathan Hollins was born into a footballing family in Bromley, South London. His father is John Hollins MBE, the former Chelsea, Arsenal, QPR and England footballer. His uncle David was a goalkeeper and played for Newcastle United as well as Wales, winning eleven caps.

Hollins was educated at Bickley Park School in Bromley and Tonbridge School, Durham University, Hild Bede College, and Keble College, Oxford.[1]

Sporting career

After leaving Tonbridge School in 1989,[2] he played football for Charlton, Queens Park Rangers, and Aldershot Town. He then attended Durham University and subsequently Oxford University for whom he played first-class cricket and gained a blue.[3][4]

TV career

Hollins started his media career at London TV station Channel One TV, then owned by Associated newspapers, he then moved to Sky Sports in 1994 followed by spells at GMTV, Meridian and Five TV.

Hollins joined BBC News in 1999, and has also reported for Grandstand and Football Focus. He joined BBC Breakfast in October 2005, replacing Rob Bonnet.

Hollins was the main sport presenter on Breakfast, presenting on Mondays-Thursdays until his final show on 21 March 2012 (he had decided not to make the move to Salford as the show was being relocated). He was also a regular male relief presenter during the week, standing in for main presenter Bill Turnbull. Hollins has reported from the 2002 World Cup in Japan, the 2010 World Cup, and America to cover The Masters golf in 2007.

In 2009, Hollins joined the presenting team of the BBC1 antiques show Cash in the Attic.[5]

In April 2010, Hollins co-presented The One Show for a week alongside Louise Minchin while regular hosts Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley were unavailable.[6]

In September 2010 Hollins became a co-presenter on Watchdog. In July 2011 Hollins became a co-presenter on BBC One's programme The Great British Weather.

Hollins and Matt Allwright present Food Inspectors, a factual programme which began airing on BBC One on 29 February 2012. The show is currently airing its third series.

Film

Hollins appeared in the 2007 film Run Fatboy Run[7] as a marathon commentator[8] alongside Denise Lewis.[9]

Personal life

Hollins lives with his wife,[10] Sarah Alexander, an account director for a media marketing company.[8] Hollins has a cat called Tootsie

Charity work

In 2008, Hollins became a patron of children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent.

Chris Hollins is an ambassador for Gold Challenge, part of the official mass participation legacy programme for the London 2012 Games. Gold Challenge is a fund-raising challenge where participants take on five or more Olympic and Paralympic sports to raise money for a charity of their choice.

Strictly Come Dancing

Hollins won the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing with dance partner Ola Jordan, beating Ricky Whittle in the final.[1] He consistently won the public vote throughout, despite losing the judges' vote 190 – 186 in the Final. Chris and Ola were the only pair in the competition never to face the "Dance Off".

Judges' scores

All partnered with Ola Jordan
Week Dance/Song Judges' score Total score
Craig Revel Horwood Darcey Bussell Len Goodman Alesha Dixon Bruno Tonioli
1 Tango / "Sharp Dressed Man" 6 – 7 7 6 26
Rumba / "Don't Know Much" 7 – 8 8 7 30
3 Quickstep / "Dancing Fool" 5 – 6 6 6 23
4 Salsa / "Micaela" 6 – 7 6 6 25
5 Jive / "Roll Over Beethoven" 5 – 6 6 5 22
6 American Smooth / "Jimmy Mack" 7 – 7 7 7 28
7 Cha Cha Cha / "Shake Your Groove Thing" 7 – 8 7 7 29
8 Foxtrot / "I Could Have Danced All Night" 8 – 9 9 8 34
9 Paso Doble / "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" 6 – 8 9 7 30
10 Viennese Waltz / "A New Day Has Come" 7 – 7 8 7 29
11 Charleston / "Fat Sam's Grandslam" 8 – 8 9 9 34
12 Waltz / "At This Moment" 8 8 8 9 8 41
Samba / "Cuba" 8 8 8 8 7 39
13 Rumba / "Total Eclipse of the Heart" 7 7 8 8 8 38
Argentine Tango / "Bust Your Windows" 8 8 9 9 8 42
14 Foxtrot / "I Could Have Danced All Night" 9 9 9 10 9 46
Lindy Hop / "Sing Sing Sing" 8 9 9 9 9 44
Charleston / "Fat Sam's Grandslam" 10 10 10 10 10 50
Showdance / "Do You Love Me" 9 9 9 10 9 46- Winners

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "All that glitters... One quick step from Oxford to Strictly". Oxford Today 23 (2): 19. 2011.
  2. ↑ Tonbridge School
  3. ↑ Sons and Daughters
  4. ↑ Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan BBC – Strictly Come Dancing 2009
  5. ↑ In a taxi with... Twinkle-toed TV presenter Chris Hollins Mail Online, 6 February 2010.
  6. ↑ Chris Hollins to stand in for Adrian Chiles on The One Show The Mirror, 9 April 2010
  7. ↑ Chris Hollins Talent4Media
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Strictly's Chris Hollins: 'If only I could be four again' Mail Online, 11 December 2009
  9. ↑ Full cast and crew for Run Fatboy Run Internet Movie Database
  10. ↑ Announcement of wedding on 3 March 2012 The Times, 5 March 2012

External links

Preceded by
Tom Chambers and Camilla Dallerup
Strictly Come Dancing Champion
(with partner Ola Jordan)

Series 7 (2009)
Succeeded by
Kara Tointon and Artem Chigvintsev