Justin Lee Collins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2006) (Find sources: Justin Lee Collins – news, books, scholar) |
| Justin Lee Collins | |
|---|---|
.jpg) |
|
| Collins at the 2009 BAFTA Television Awards. | |
| Born | 28 July 1974 Bristol, England |
| Medium | Stand-up comedian, Radio/Television presenter |
| Nationality | British |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Spouse | Karen Collins (?–present) |
Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July, 1974) is a British comedian, television and radio presenter from Bristol, often known as 'JLC'. His West Country accent, enthusiasm for pop culture and "caveman" image are amongst his trademarks, a trait he claims was inspired by Chewbacca from Star Wars. He still lives in his native city of Bristol.
Contents |
[edit] Early life
In 1990, Collins left Speedwell Technology College (Now known as Bristol Brunel Academy) school at the age of 15 with no qualifications and started working at Marks & Spencer. Three years later he went to Filton College and earned a BTEC in performing arts.
[edit] Career
[edit] Stand-up comedy
Collins worked as a double-glazing demonstrator before making a brief foray into stand-up comedy in which he won the New Comedy Competition at the 1997 Glastonbury Festival and reached the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival. He gave up doing stand-up in 2002 to concentrate fully on TV and radio presenting. He claims he will never return to the stand-up circuit.
[edit] Radio
Collins began hosting a radio show on XFM in 2003, initially on Sundays at 1 to 3 am, but later progressing to Saturday afternoons from 3 to 6 pm. He left in December 2005.
Collins was heard performing a Tom Jones impersonation on BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles Show in January 2008.[1]
[edit] Television work
In 2002, Collins made a number of shows for Bravo and MTV but his big break came when he 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 is one of the current presenters of The Sunday Night Project (previously named The Friday Night Project) alongside Alan Carr for Channel 4. 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 Paul O'Grady Show The New Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 whilst 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.[2] 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 focussed 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.
His catchphrases include "Good Times!" (and occasionally "Bad Times!"), "I love it!", "Get in!", "Rock On!" "Cheeky" and "Rock and roll!". Aside from his passion for cult television whether it is The A-Team and Mr. T or The New Avengers, he is known to be a big fan of classic rock music. He can often be seen wearing T-shirts depicting his favourite bands.
[edit] Darts
Collins is known for his passion for darts and often cites it as his favourite sport. On 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, which took place 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.[3] He is nicknamed The Bristol Flyer.
[edit] Musical Theatre
Following on from the idea of learning to play professional darts Collins has performed in professional Musical Theatre in London's famous West End. For a TV programme on Sky One Collins learned the skills necassary to perform on the musical stage, gaining a part in the hit show Chicago (musical). Playing alongside Aoife Mulholland (as his wife Roxie Hart) Collins rehearsed for the role of Amos Hart at the Cambridge Theatre. Collins said of his 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." .[4]
[edit] Film
It was announced in early 2009 that Collins will be one of the stars of the upcoming Carry On relaunch, Carry On Bananas to be directed by Fast Show star Charlie Higson. Filming will begin later this year.
[edit] Book
In September 2009 Collins' autobiography Good Times! will be published by Ebury Press
[edit] Personal life
Collins is a Bristol City fan.[5] His wife Karen gave birth to their first child, a boy called Archie, on 16 May 2005.[6] 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.[7]
He is a patron of the charity Bristol Kids, run by Heart Bristol, a radio station based in Bristol.[8]
[edit] Television credits
[edit] References
- ^ "Chris Moyles guests 2008". http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/chrismoyles/galleries/2877/8/. Retrieved on 2008-06-17.
- ^ "Top Gear". On The Box. http://www.onthebox.com/program/2559135/top-gear.aspx. Retrieved on 2008-06-19.
- ^ "BDO International Open Brean 2008 - Singles 15/06/08". BDO Darts. 2008-06-16. http://www.bdodarts.com/results/2008/BritIntlOpen2008Men.pdf.
- ^ http://broadwayworld.com/article/CHICAGO_Celebrates_11th_BDay_With_Justin_Lee_Collins_124_20081126
- ^ "Friday Night Project TV star Justin Lee Collins explains why islanders should be proud of their accent - The Sun - Showbiz -TV". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1107180.ece. Retrieved on 2009-04-26.
- ^ Justin Lee Collins: My Life in Media - Media, News - Independent.co.uk
- ^ This Morning TV show (17 January 2008)
- ^ "Justin Lee Collins - Patron". http://www.gwrfmbristol.co.uk/Article.asp?id=400914&spid=15800http://www.gwrfmbristol.co.uk/Article.asp?id=400914&spid=15800. Retrieved on 2008-04-07.
[edit] External links
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Lee Collins |
- Interview with Collins
- Official Biography
- Biography at XFM
- Justin Lee Collins at the Internet Movie Database
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
