Michelle Collins (comedian)

Michelle Elizabeth Collins (née Cikk; born July 9, 1981)[2] is an American comedian and talk show host. Collins came into the entertainment industry as the managing editor of VH1's bestweekever.tv, a pop culture website that tied into the series of the same name. The site earned her two Webby Awards for Best Celebrity Fan Blog.[3] In 2010, Collins joined as a co-host on the new LOGO/VH1 show The Gossip Queens,[citation needed] which was also in limited syndication.[4] She joined The View on July 13, 2015, for the 19th season as a co-host. She was let go on June 3, 2016. She hosted her own Sirius XM talk show, The Michelle Collins Show, from 2018 until 2022.[5][6]

Michelle Collins
Born
Michelle Elizabeth Cikk

(1981-07-09) July 9, 1981 (age 43)
Alma materBarnard College (BA)
Occupation(s)Comedian, talk show host, writer
Years active2004–present[1]
External image
image icon Collins in 2016

Early life and education

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Collins was born on July 9, 1981 in Miami Beach, Florida[7] as Michelle Elizabeth Cikk to Judy and Mel Collins, who changed their names when she was a young girl.[8] She has an older brother.[9] Her parents are of Eastern European Jewish descent. She graduated from Barnard College in New York City with a B.A. in art history.[10]

Career

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Collins worked as a legal assistant prior to becoming a comedian.[1]

Collins started as managing editor for VH1's Best Week Ever website for six years.[11][12] According to Collins, she broke the story of Jared Fogle's early pornography business during her time writing for the website.[13][14] She also covered major events such as the Wimbledon Championships, the Oscars and the Olympics for Vanity Fair.[15][12] She also contributed to Elle.[16] Before joining The View, Collins made regular appearances as a panelist on Chelsea Lately, The Joy Behar Show, The Tyra Banks Show, Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, The Wendy Williams Show, and various VH1 productions. She also had her own web talk show, Martini Minute, on which she has interviewed celebrities such as Adam Lambert, New Kids on the Block, Travie McCoy, and Jessica Simpson. Collins also appeared on and wrote for Kathy Griffin's talk show.[12][17] In 2009, she won the ECNY Award for Best Female Standup Comedian in New York,[18] and in the same year she was featured as a "Comedian to Watch" in the magazine YRB.[11] In 2010, she won LOGO's NewNowNext Award for "Breakout Comic".[19]

Collins also performed standup comedy, which she described as "mostly off the cuff and not written".[20]

The View

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On July 13, 2015, after making several appearances from February of that year, Collins was announced to have signed on as a co-host on The View for the nineteenth season.[21][17] At the time, Collins stated that she had wanted to be on the show since she was four years old.[22] During Collins' tenure on The View, the show was experiencing low ratings and staff turmoil.[23][17] The show brought in new management and introduced new segment formats, as well as an emphasis on politics due to the 2016 election.[23] According to Variety, the new managers did not like Collins' hosting style, which included personal anecdotes, and Collins' subject expertise did not fit with the new political bent of the show.[23] In 2004, Collins co-founded voter mobilization group, Votergasm.org.[1] Collins also received negative audience feedback for two on-air incidents, where she criticized nurses in October 2015, and joked on a segment that presidential candidate Carly Fiorina's face looked "demented" when smiling during a Republican presidential primary debate.[24][23] By January, Collins' appearances on the show were reduced to one or two segments a week.[23]

On June 3, 2016, it was announced that Collins was fired from The View, effective immediately.[25] Collins made a statement confirming her departure from the show on June 17, 2016, via Instagram.[26]

After The View, Radio shows

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On July 13, 2016, a new show hosted by Collins was released on ABC Digital titled All My Gay Friends Are Getting Married.[27] Collins was also announced as the host of After Paradise, the live after-show of Bachelor in Paradise.[28] Additionally, she hosted two shows on Lifetime TV: Little Talk Live and Date Night Live. On July 8, 2018, Collins became the host of the new TLC Channel show "90 Day Live". "90 Day Live" is a recep/review show that takes place directly after the weekly show "90 Day Fiancée: Happily Ever After?" on TLC. The show features Michelle giving a recap of that week's show events along with special guests. Collins also appears as a guest host on the Today Show.[29][16][30]

In March 2018, she began her daily Sirius XM morning show The Michelle Collins Show on the Sirius XM Stars channel.[5] The radio show covers pop culture and entertainment, and included interviews with celebrity guests, newsmakers, experts, and reality TV stars.[5] In August 2021, she started broadcasting on the Radio Andy channel on Sirius XM. Collins hosts a podcast, Midnight Snack with Michelle Collins, which succeeded her previous podcasts Fresh Batch and Edit That Out.[12][30][31][32]

On October 21, 2022, the final episode of her SiriusXM show aired.[6] Soon after she relaunched The Michelle Collins Show radio show on paid-subscription service Patreon.[33][30]

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Result Ref.
2016 Daytime Emmy Awards Outstanding Entertainment Talk Show Host
(shared with Joy Behar, Candace Cameron Bure, Paula Faris, Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez, Raven-Symoné, and Nicolle Wallace)
Nominated [34]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Michelle Collins, Director and Spokeswoman, Votergasm.org - Gothamist". March 29, 2010. Archived from the original on March 29, 2010.
  2. ^ The View (May 27, 2016). "Joy Behar Revals Origin Of Her Last Name – The View". Retrieved January 6, 2017 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ "The Webby Awards 2008". Archived from the original on March 28, 2014.
  4. ^ "The Gossip Queens". Logo TV.
  5. ^ a b c "Michelle Collins, comedian and former co-host of The View, launches uncensored daily show". Washington, DC: SiriusXM. March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 4, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Collins, Michelle [@michcoll] (October 21, 2022). "Here we goooo our last show on @radioandysxm!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 10, 2024 – via Twitter.
  7. ^ Tennant, Thomas. "Michelle Collins biography Who is Michelle Collins?". About Entertainment. Archived from the original on August 10, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  8. ^ Collins, Michelle (December 21, 2011). "Gelty-y Conscience: A Jewish Family Christmas". Vanity Fair. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  9. ^ The View (September 6, 2015). "Michelle Collins On Her Family, The View and Childhood". Retrieved January 6, 2017 – via YouTube.
  10. ^ Agresta, Mike (Fall 2011). "Behind the Shell". Columbia College Today. Archived from the original on August 15, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2021.
  11. ^ a b "Michelle Collins Bids Farewell to Los Angeles as She Readies to Join 'The View' | Entertainment Tonight". August 17, 2015.
  12. ^ a b c d "Michelle Collins | Speaking Fee, Booking Agent, & Contact Info | CAA Speakers".
  13. ^ "Who is Michelle Collins? Six things to know about 'The View's' new host". New York Daily News. July 8, 2015.
  14. ^ "News | VH1". Archived from the original on May 12, 2007.
  15. ^ "More Big-Time Shake-Ups at the View". Vanity Fair. July 8, 2015.
  16. ^ a b "'The View': Michelle Collins Feted as She Officially Joins as Co-Host". July 13, 2015.
  17. ^ a b c "The View adds Comedian Michelle Collins as host". Entertainment Weekly.
  18. ^ Lehman, Daniel (March 10, 2009). "ECNY Awards Recap". backstage.com. Retrieved January 19, 2014.
  19. ^ "Hysterical Michelle Collins wins the Brink of Fame: Comic Award". MTV. Viacom. Archived from the original on December 24, 2015. Retrieved September 14, 2014.
  20. ^ "A Seat with a View".
  21. ^ Messer, Lesley (July 13, 2015). "Michelle Collins to Join 'The View' as New Co-Host". abcnews.go.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  22. ^ "Michelle Collins Finally Announced as 'The View's Latest New Co-Host". July 13, 2015.
  23. ^ a b c d e "'The View' Axes Michelle Collins as Co-Host (EXCLUSIVE)". June 3, 2016.
  24. ^ CNN anchor to 'The View' hosts: 'Double standard much?' - CNN Video, October 29, 2015, retrieved April 13, 2017
  25. ^ Setoodeh, Ramin (June 3, 2016). "'The View' Axes Michelle Collins as Co-Host (EXCLUSIVE)". Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  26. ^ Messer, Lesley. "Michelle Collins Announces She's Leaving 'The View'". ABC News. Retrieved June 22, 2016.
  27. ^ "Michelle Collins' "All My Gay Friends Are Getting Married" Lands On ABC Streaming Service". Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  28. ^ "'After Paradise' spoilers: Sean Lowe, Chad Johnson, Michelle Collins, more appear in premiere". August 9, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  29. ^ "Michelle Collins reveals the 'breaking point' that inspired her to move overseas". July 8, 2022.
  30. ^ a b c "Why You Should Go on First Dates While Traveling Abroad - BNN Bloomberg". November 9, 2022.
  31. ^ "These "Bachelorette" Podcasts Will Help You Analyze All the Monday Night Drama".
  32. ^ "Michelle Collins to host morning radio talk show for SiriusXM – the Comic's Comic". March 2018.
  33. ^ "Michelle Collins".
  34. ^ Variety Staff (March 24, 2016). "'Young & Restless' Leads Daytime Emmy Noms But Ceremony Won't Be on TV". Retrieved March 24, 2017.
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Media offices
Preceded by The View co-host
2015–2016
Succeeded by