Justin Lee Collins

Justin Lee Collins (born 28 July 1974) is a former actor and radio and television presenter from Bristol, England.

Collins was born on 28 July 1974 in Southmead, Bristol, to Anita and Danny Collins.

His father was a self-employed electrician.

Collins is an only child.

Collins began his career as a comedian in the 1990s when he was in his late teens.

He then presented a number of TV shows.

In 1990, he left education at Speedwell Secondary School aged 15 with no qualifications and started working at Marks & Spencer as a warehouseman.

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 in 1997 and reached the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 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 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.

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 for Channel 4.

He also hosted numerous specials on Channel 4 entitled 'Bring Back...', reuniting the cast and crew from shows and films such as Dallas, Star Wars, The A-Team 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 star in Rock of Ages.

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 6 pm slot during April 2011.

On 17 September that year, Collins sat in for Dermot O'Leary's Saturday show on BBC Radio 2.

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

In 2007 and 2010, Collins won the category Funniest Man at Loaded's Lafta awards.

He fronted 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 was a guest presenter on The New Paul O'Grady Show on Channel 4 when O'Grady took a break.

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."

Collins was heard performing a Tom Jones impersonation on BBC Radio 1's Chris Moyles show in January 2008.

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 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 which ran from March to May 2009.

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

In 2012 he was convicted of harassing an ex-girlfriend.

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.

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 2014, Collins returned to radio with his own weekly show on Fubar Radio, an uncensored station featuring Andy Parsons and Mark Dolan.

The show is also available via iTunes in podcast form.