Collins married Canadian Andrea Bertorelli in 1975. They met as students in a drama class in London, in 1975. They had a son, Simon Collins, and Collins adopted Bertorelli's daughter Joely Collins, now a Canadian actress. They divorced in 1980, after she started an affair with their painter and decorator - Collins later appeared on the BBC's Top of the Pops singing his 1981 solo hit In The Air Tonight with a pot of paint and brush positioned on his piano.

Collins and his second wife, Jill Tavelman, whom he met in 1980 were married from 1984 to 1996. They had one daughter, Lily Collins , Collins openly admits that some of their divorce-related correspondence was by fax (one, about access to their daughter, was reproduced in The Sun), but denies that this took her by surprise. Collins paid Jill £17M as final settlement.

After a five year romance, Collins married his third wife, Orianne Cevey, in 1999, with guests Eric Clapton and Sir Elton John in attendance. The cou