Andy Collins

Andy Collins
Andy Collins in the present day
Personal Information
Born	4 July 1970
Years Active	1993-present
Robot Wars Information
Role	Presenter/Commentator
UK Series	4-5 (qualifiers only)
Predecessor	Craig Charles
Successor	Craig Charles

Andrew Collins (better known as Andy Collins) is an English television presenter, radio host and performer who served as the presenter and commentator for the Robot Mayhem and Live Events shows, which held the qualifiers for Series 4 and 5 respectively.

Robot Wars

"Andy did a great job, but presenting three shows a day for ten days meant that by the end he'd nearly lost his voice"

— Issue 6 of the Robot Wars Magazine

Andy Collins, pictured in the Robot Wars Magazine, at the time of his hosting role

With the qualifiers for Series 4 being held as a live event known as Robot Mayhem, the first of any kind for the UK Robot Wars, Andy Collins was drafted in to fill Craig Charles' role as the lead presenter for the shows. As well as this, he also served a commentating role akin to Jonathan Pearce, with Collins providing a running commentary as the battles were in progress. Collins is known to have highlighted certain aspects of the various robots designs, such as the axe of Dominator 2, which he pointed out to the audience as the future Semi-Finalist entered the arena for its fight against Rattus Rattus. A unique aspect of Collins' role at the Robot Mayhem events was that he was able to call out which hazards could be activated at any given time. An article on the Watford Observer suggests that Collins allowed the The Pit to be opened after the audience chanted for it, similar to how they would do so in the televised series. After the battles, Collins would then interview the winning teams, doing so with the likes of Team Tornado where he highlighted their machine's fast speed, as well as Team Lobster, The Four Horsemen and Team Ixion.

For the Robot Wars Live Events serving as the qualifiers for Series 5, Collins reprised his presenting role, though unlike before where he was the sole host, Craig Charles would return to the hosting role himself to join Collins as a co-presenter. With this tour being more mainstream, Collins was able to meet and greet audience members along with Charles who had won VIP tickets as part of a tie-in promotion held in the Robot Wars Magazine. It assumed that Collins served a similar role in these events to Robot Mayhem, providing a running commentary and interviewing teams after the fights.

Outside Robot Wars

Andy Collins on Family Fortunes

Andy Collins has worked on many various television programmes, mostly game show related. He commonly appears as a 'warm-up host', getting the audience worked up before the show's officially begin filming. Shows on Collins' resume include Gamesworld, Pump It Up and even the sister show to Robot Wars, Techno Games, where he worked as a reporter in the 2002 series. Collins also hosted the very last series of Family Fortunes that same year.

Along with television presenting, Collins has also worked in theatre, mostly performing in pantomime shows as well-known characters in fairytales like Wishy-Washy and Buttons. Presently, Collins works as a breakfast show radio presenter for BBC Three Counties Radio.

External Links

• Andy Collins Twitter profile
• Andy Collins' personal website