Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is an actor and former radio and television presenter from

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city i ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Collins began his career as a stand up comedian in the 1990s when he was in his late teens. He then presented a number of TV shows. From 2003 to 2005 he hosted his own radio show on XFM. He was one of the duo presenting ''The Sunday Night Project'' (previously named ''The Friday Night Project''), appearing alongside

Alan Carr Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...

for

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. He also hosted numerous specials on

entitled 'Bring Back...', reuniting the cast and crew from shows and films such as ''

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

'', ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various film ...

'', ''

The A-Team ''The A-Team'' is an American action-adventure television series that ran on NBC from January 1983 to March 1987 about former members of a fictitious United States Army Special Forces unit. The four members of the team were tried by court m ...

'' and '' Fame''. He then took on challenges to become a Mexican wrestler, a surfer, a ballroom dancer, a ten-pin bowler, a high diver and a West End star. He later became a real

West End West End most commonly refers to: * West End of London, an area of central London, England * West End theatre, a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London, England West End may also refer to: Pl ...

star in '' Rock of Ages''. In 2014 Collins starred in the comedy/horror feature film ''The Hatching'' alongside Thomas Turgoose and Andrew Potts, and in 2015 he played a small role in the time-travel comedy ''Time Slips''. In 2012 he was convicted of harassing an ex-girlfriend.

Early life

Collins was born on 28 July 1974 in

Southmead Southmead is a northern suburb and council ward of Bristol, in the south west of England, bordered by Filton in South Gloucestershire and Monks Park, Horfield, Henleaze and Westbury on Trym. The River Trym rises in Southmead and flows south ...

, to Anita and Danny Collins. His father was a self-employed electrician.Justin Lee Collins
. Justin Lee Collins. Retrieved on 6 June 2012.Life's one big good hair day – Justin Lee Collins interview – News – Scotsman.com
Scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com (2 May 2008). Retrieved on 6 June 2012. Collins is an only child. In 1990, he left education at Speedwell Secondary School aged 15 with no qualifications and started working at

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer Group plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks's or Marks & Sparks) is a major British multinational retailer with headquarters in Paddington, London that specialises in selling clothing, beauty, home ...

as a warehouseman.Scrumpy & Western website. Made In Somerset from cider! Justin Lee Collins profile page
. Somersetmade.co.uk (28 July 1974). Retrieved on 6 June 2012.

Career

Comedy and theatre

Collins began his career in entertainment as a stand-up comic whilst still working part-time as a double-glazing window demonstrator. He won the Best New Comedy Act award at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contempo ...

in 1997 and reached the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards at the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

the same year. Collins gave up stand-up comedy in 2002 to concentrate on TV and radio presenting, stating he intended to never return to the profession. In 2007 and 2010, Collins won the category Funniest Man at '' Loadeds Lafta awards.Justin Lee Collins wins Funniest Man award at Laftas – Showbiz – Evening Standard
Thisislondon.co.uk (27 January 2010). Retrieved on 6 June 2012. In 2008 Collins appeared as Amos Hart in the hit show ''Chicago'', for which he rehearsed 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." From August 2011 to September 2012 Collins played Dennis Dupree in the

production of ''Rock of Ages''. In 2013, Collins made a one-night-only return to stand-up comedy when he participated in "What’s the Fuss?", an event organised by Helen Lederer.

Radio

Collins began hosting a radio show on

XFM Radio X is a British National commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. Radio X launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station, a licensed London-wide station in 1997 and nationally in 2015 ...

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 6 pm slot during April 2011. On 17 September that year, Collins sat in for

Dermot O'Leary Seán Dermot Fintan O'Leary Jr. (born 24 May 1973) is an English broadcaster who currently works for ITV and BBC Radio 2. His radio career began when he worked as a disc jockey at Essex Radio, but he is best known for being the presenter of ' ...

's Saturday show on

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content ...

. Collins was heard performing a

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer * Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in ...

impersonation on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

Chris Moyles Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X. Previously he has presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to ...

show in January 2008. In 2014, Collins returned to radio with his own weekly show on Fubar Radio, an uncensored station featuring Andy Parsons and

Mark Dolan Mark Dolan (born 17 March 1974) is an English comedian, writer, and presenter. He currently hosts ''Mark Dolan Tonight'' on GB News. He was the host of '' Balls of Steel'' from 2005 until 2008 on Channel 4. Early life Dolan attended University ...

. The show is also available via iTunes in podcast form.

Television and film

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 ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

''. He was replaced by Claudia Winkleman the following year and the show moved from

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes targeting 16 to 34-year-olds, cov ...

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

. In 2005 and 2006, Collins presented '' The Games: Live At Trackside'' on E4 alongside Caroline Flack. The series was the companion show to

's sports-based reality programme ''The Games''. He was one of the presenters of

and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

's '' Flipside TV''. He fronted a series for

entitled ''The Convention-Crasher'', aired in late 2007 and early 2008, in which he learned skills such as

clown A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms. History The most ancient clowns have been found in ...

ing and

ventriloquism Ventriloquism, or ventriloquy, is a performance act of stagecraft in which a person (a ventriloquist) creates the illusion that their voice is coming from elsewhere, usually a puppeteered prop known as a "dummy". The act of ventriloquism is v ...

in an attempt to win prizes at professional conventions. On 7 May 2007, he was a guest presenter on '' The New Paul O'Grady Show'' on

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. In June 2008, a show was aired on

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1 ...

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. 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 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial station ...

which ran from March to May 2009. That year he became the host of the Sky 1 show Oops tv, which shows home videos of people doing stupid things and things going badly wrong. That August he appeared on ''JLC Is'', a six-part series on

Sky 1 HD Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

depicting 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. The following month on 11 September, whilst being interviewed on BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show it was announced Collins had signed an exclusive deal with Channel 5, and he confirmed he would therefore not be making another series of '' The Justin Lee Collins Show'' for

. On joining Five he hosted the game show ''Heads Or Tails'', where players could win up to £1m by correctly calling coin flips, and a chat show called ''Good Times'' which was cancelled due to poor viewing figures. In '' Justin Lee Collins: The Wrestler'', Collins trains for 10 days in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

with a Mexican

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

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 Lee One, with his own

wrestling mask A wrestling mask is a fabric-based mask that some professional wrestlers wear as part of their in-ring persona or gimmick. Professional wrestlers have been using masks as far back as 1915 and they are still widely used today, especially in Lucha ...

. His persona is given the blessing of El Hijo del Santo (The Son of Saint). Returning to London, Justin fights Cassan Dro in a Lucha libre event in the Roundhouse, ultimately losing and being unmasked. In 2014, Collins was cast in British feature film ''The Hatching'' as Stan. It was directed by Michael Anderson. Collins stars alongside Andrew Potts and Thomas Turgoose. The following year he had a bit part in time-travel comedy ''Time Slips'', directed by Stephen Hyams. In August 2016 Collins made a return to TV, four years after his conviction, becoming a regular presenter on FanTV. The show attracted a small audience and was cancelled a few months later.

Music

After failing to be chosen to represent the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, on 22 January 2010 Collins announced on RTÉ's ''

The Late Late Show ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

'' his intention to seek the nomination to represent

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. His proposed song was written by

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band, created in 1993 by talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show''. Their most successful line-up was composed of Keith Duffy, Step ...

star

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career s ...

. RTÉ confirmed on 9 February 2010 the song had not been shortlisted for the Irish final. In 2007, Collins signed a three-album deal with Universal. Due to other commitments the first album was never released and subsequently the deal was called off. Collins stated in an interview with Reveal magazine (2012) he would like to resume his efforts to release music in the future.

Writing

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

Personal life

Marriage and children

In 2003, Collins married Karen Lee. She gave birth to their first child, a boy, in May 2005. In January 2008, Collins announced his wife had recently given birth to their second son. Collins separated from his wife in late 2010.

Harassment conviction

In November 2010, Justin Collins began a relationship with Anna Larke. After their break-up, Collins was charged with harassment of Larke under Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (harassment causing fear of violence), and was subsequently tried at

St Albans St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roma ...

Crown Court The Crown Court is the court of first instance of England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some either way offences and appeals lied to it by the magistrates' courts. It is one of three Senior Courts of England and Wale ...

, where he was sentenced to 140 hours of community service and to pay £3,500 prosecution costs.Justin Lee Collins 'will never accept he is violent'

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

. Retrieved on 29 November 2012. Following the trial he sought help from a psychotherapist.

Television credits

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Justin Lee 1974 births Living people English male comedians English television presenters People convicted of harassment Television personalities from Bristol 20th-century English comedians 21st-century English comedians