Team Witch Doctor

World Championship VII
WC VI
WC V
WC IV
WC III
WC II
WC I

Participation Information

ABC Seasons

World Championship I
World Championship II

Discovery Seasons

World Championship III
World Championship IV
World Championship V
World Championship VI
World Championship VII

Other Events

BattleBots IQ 2010
BattleBots IQ 2011
re:MARS all:STARS BattleBots Challenge (2019)
BattleBots: Bounty Hunters
BattleBots: Champions I
BattleBots Proving Ground
BattleBots Faceoffs

Team Information

Team Members

Andrea Gellatly (Captain)
Mike Gellatly (Captain)
Paul Grata
Jennifer Villa
(WC I-WC IV)
Brian Lepley (WC II)
Carolina de Freitas (WC II)

Christian Chiriboga
(WC III-Present)
Steven Sharp
(WC III-Present)
Katheryn Sharp
(WC III-Present)
Rick Pease
(WC IV-Present)
Andrew Rudolph
(WC VI-Present)
Kurtis Wanner
(WC VI-Present)
Brett Heininger
(WC VII-Present)
Adam Bercu
(BBIQ 2010-BBIQ 2011)

From

Miami, FL

Team Witch Doctor, formerly known as Busted Nuts Robotics, are an active team who have competed in numerous BattleBots competitions with their heavyweight of the same name.

Team Witch Doctor 2022 WCVII — Team Witch Doctor during World Championship VII.

Witch Doctor competed in both ABC seasons of BattleBots under the team name Busted Nuts Robotics, but this was simplified to Team Witch Doctor for later seasons on Discovery. The team are captained by husband and wife duo Mike and Andrea Gellatly, who play up to the voodoo theme of the robot with bespoke team attire and introductions.

Bbs9remars kenny — Team Witch Doctor celebrate their re:MARS 2019 win.

In the televised show, Team Witch Doctor have a career best runner-up finish, which they achieved during the 2019 and 2021 seasons. However, they did win the 2019 re:MARS all:STARS Challenge and successfully defended their bounty during BattleBots: Bounty Hunters in 2020. The team later looked to defend their bounty in BattleBots: Champions I, but fell short in the title-decider to End Game.

Team Witch Doctor have amassed a large following, with the Witch Doctor Junior program designed to encourage young fans into STEM subjects from an early age. Andrea and Mike Gellatly co-hosted Tale of the Tape After Show alongside Team HyperShock, discussing each episode after it airs and often bringing fellow competitors onto the show as special guests. However, this was discontinued after the 2020 season due to the time and effort required from both teams.

On December 11, 2022, the team published their own Witch Doctor coloring and activity book, featuring cartoon-like illustrations of Andrea and Mike Gellatly, the robot itself and various other team members based upon real images from season to season.^[1]

In November 2023, the team launched the Camp Witch Doctor Build and Battle Box - a 1lb plastic antweight kit with tools, safety equipment, accompanying videos and 3D models for rookie builders to construct their own combat robot with guidance from Andrea Gellatly. Ten robot designs are available, ranging in theme and weaponry.

Outside BattleBots[]

During a November 2023 Reddit AMA with Team HyperShock, Will Bales revealed that they and Team Witch Doctor jointly applied for a reboot-era series of Robot Wars with a proposed vertical spinner multibot. However, due to a 'last-minute' change, their entry - suggested by Bales to possibly be built for Series 10 - was unable to compete.^[2]

Team Members[]

Andrea & Mike Gellatly[]

"It doesn't matter who you are, where you come from, how old you are. If you spend enough time and put in the energy, you can put in a great robot!"

— Andrea Suarez during World Championship I

Co-captain of Team Witch Doctor, Andrea Gellatly (née Suarez) has been involved in the sport since 2002. Her first robot was called EdBot^[3] and in 2004, she formed part of an all-female robotics team called Team Mean n' Green. Competing with their 120lb robots The Kerminator, Commander 5 and Marvinator, she then joined a group of Miami-based university students. She entered Category 5 into the 2009 Collegiate Championship and several BattleBots IQ competitions.

Andrea BBIQ 2011 — Andrea Suarez during *BattleBots IQ* 2011.

Then captained by future husband Mike Gellatly, the team known as Busted Nuts Robotics designed and built the first Witch Doctor, a middleweight for the 2011 edition of BattleBots IQ. Witch Doctor won the Best Engineered and Coolest Robot awards, as well as finishing first overall in the competition.

Bestengineered2011 wd — Andrea and Mike Gellatly with their Best Engineered Award at *BattleBots IQ* 2011.

By day, Andrea Gellatly most recently worked as a biomedical engineer for Zimmer Biomet, who have previously sponsored the robot during seasons of BattleBots. Her role in this profession was further explained in the second episode of World Championship I, with responsibilities including studying on fractures, and developing new implants made out of titanium and stainless steel. She is the main weapons operator of Witch Doctor and published the BattleBots themed alphabet book B is for BattleBots in November 2019. Outside of the show, she has built numerous smaller robots: Alexander Hammerton (1lb), Mustachio (fairyweight), WhipperSnapper (1lb), inVertigo and ButterBot (both fairyweight) and Trilobiter (3lb).^[4]

Fellow co-captain of the team, Mike Gellatly led the Miami university robotics team, where he met future wife Andrea. He is the lead designer and driver of the 250lb Witch Doctor. He received a masters in mechanical aerospace engineering from the University of Miami and develops robotic surgery products by day.