Alison Haislip (born February 6, 1981) is an American actress and television presenter who served as a sideline reporter for BattleBots during World Championship I and II, before returning as a guest judge for World Championship III.
According to Alison Haislip, BattleBots executive producers Greg Munson and Trey Roski already had her in mind prior to offering her the role in 2015, citing her work on Attack of the Show! and American Ninja Warrior as reasons to believe she would be a good fit for the show.[1] She admitted to not having previously watched the show on Comedy Central, but was highly interested in the show nonetheless.
Alison Haislip interviewing Hannah Rucker during the 2016 season.
- "When I was hired for the job, they handed me an eighty-page on robot combat... I never got to see the original because it was on Comedy Central and I did not have cable at the time, so they really had to really fill me in on what the show was, and also what ABC was doing with it."
- — Alison Haislip explains how she got involved with BattleBots
Swapping roles with judge Jessica Chobot ahead of the 2018 competition, her role as sideline reporter involved speaking to winning and losing teams after a fight. However, she did not return to BattleBots with the conclusion of the third reboot season. This role was deemed redundant with presenters Chris Rose and Kenny Florian conducting post-fight interviews and Jenny Taft reporting from the pits. In spite of this, Haislip attended filming for World Championship IV in 2019.[2]
She also revealed in March 2023 that she returned to spectate a BattleBots: Destruct-A-Thon live show.[3]
Outside BattleBots[]
Prior to her television career, Alison Haislip worked as a bartender up until October 2007, where she was picked up by network G4 after being recommended by an employee. She made a name for herself as field reporter and sporadic co-host for the original run of G4's Attack of the Show! from 2008 to 2011, balancing this with co-hosting American Ninja Warrior from 2009 to 2011. She also featured in mockumentaries such as Reno 911!, Battleground and MyMusic, after hosting Whacked Out Videos between 2008 and 2009,
From then, she co-presented and served as social media host for the first season of The Voice in 2011, and appeared in various special episodes of Doctor Who that same year for BBC America, and in 2012. She has since held less significant roles in television, appearing in NCIS, Bones and Shameless in 2014. She held a recurring role in the web-series Con-Man in 2015, and currently co-hosts the Half Hour Happy Hour podcast alongside Maude Garrett and Tom Krajewski.[4]
Away from presenting, Alison Haislip has lent herself to a multitude of films since 2004, notably playing the role of Mary Graves in 2009 period Western drama The Donner Party, Claudia Mosley in 2014's Freshwater and Ali in the 2015 science fiction film Mega Shark vs. Kolossus.