Justin Lee Collins: A profile

Bristolian funnyman Justin Lee Collins has been found guilty of harassing his former girlfriend.

The 38-year-old, known as JLC, was today sentenced to 140 hours of community service for harassing his former partner Anna Larke.

But where did it all begin for the Southmead-born comedian?

A pupil at Speedwell Secondary School, Collins left school with no formal qualifications.

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He worked as a double glazing salesman and in a Marks & Spencer warehouse, and first tried his hand at performing when he took a course at Filton College in 1990.

Collins started out as a stand-up comedian, winning a competition at the Glastonbury Festival. Coming out top in their New Comedy Competition in 1997, he was later a finalist in a BBC contest at the Edinburgh Festival.

JLC featured in a number of television programmes for channels Bravo and MTV, and was a host on radio station XFM. His two-year stint led him to his next role, presenting Strictly Come Dancing on Three.

The spin-off show later became It Takes Two, presented by Claudia Winkleman.

But JLC’s road to becoming a household name only began in earnest when he started hosting the second series of Channel 4's Friday Night Project alongside Alan Carr.

Featuring a different celebrity guest host each week, the show propelled him to new heights. Soon he was appearing alongside stars such as Mariah Carey, who took part a musical parody of her diva-like demands.

In 2007 he and Carr were jointly nominated for a television BAFTA.

JLC later went on to host Bring Back... on Channel 4, reuniting the cast from famous shows or films such as Dallas, Star Wars and Fame. And in 2009 he hosted The Justin Lee Collins Show, a talk show with guests including Whoopi Goldberg, Louis Walsh, Boyzone and Catherine Tate.

Enjoying his blossoming career, the comedian was interviewed by a host of magazines and newspapers. Praised for his modesty, JLC told the Scotsman in 2008: “Where do I want to be 10 years from now? My telly career will be over, that's for sure.

“I'll be back in Bristol with my lovely wife and our two smashing boys, and unless the local radio station wants to give me a late-night show, which would be very nice, then I'll be retired."

The father-of-two has also been a hit on the stage – he starred in the West End in Chicago as part of his Convention Crasher series, in which he learned skills such as clowning and ventriloquism in an attempt to win prizes at professional conventions.

Since August last year he has been playing Dennis Dupree in the West End production of Rock Of Ages.

JLC’s book Good Times! was released by Ebury in September 2009. Collins made a failed bid to perform at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2010.

In 2010 JLC launched Shine Together, a charity to help patients at Southmead Hospital, where he was born in 1974.

That year his Channel 5 chat show Good Times got poor viewing figures and was scrapped. He also split with his wife of seven years, Karen, before the year end.