JUSTIN LEE COLLINS
Born and bred in Bristol, Justin started his career as a stand-up comedian, but it was really only as a vehicle to get into his current career as a television presenter.
In 1997, he reached the finals of the BBC New Comedy Awards which led to him getting his first television show with MTV, and then worked for XFM radio, hosting a late night Sunday programme, but it was presenting the crossover Strictly Come Dancing weekday show on BBC Three, that started to get him wider public and industry recognition. When the programme moved to BBC Two, Claudia Winkleman took over, but by now Justin had moved to Channel 4, and was headlining the Bring Back occasional specials, which have included Grange Hill and The A Team, before joining Alan Carr to present the acclaimed The Friday Night Project and The Sunday Night Project shows.
In 2006, Justin made The Convention Crasher which started with him getting a crash course in “look-a-like” work, by being a Tom Jones impersonator, and continued with clowning and ventriloquism.
More recently, Justin took his passion for darts one stage further with the Sky One show Justin Lee Collins: 180, where he started on a quest to become a professional darts player, with Keith Deller as his mentor, he worked towards taking part in the BDO International Open, but was to lose in the first round. Following the success of this, Sky commissioned a new series, broadcast in August 2009, where Justin will attempt a range of professions, including Mexican wrestler, West End musical actor and ballroom dancer!