A Man Who’s 90% Covered in Ink, Says He Was Hidden From Bosses at Work Because of His Tattoos

Matthew Whelen is an honored bearer of the “most tattooed man” title in Britain. This guy loves tattoos so much he first started doing them when he was nine. He has spent more than 1,500 hours being inked and once 36 artists worked on his body simultaneously. Now Matthew is showing another side of being in love with body art, as he faces some huge problems at work and in his everyday life.

Matthew’s body art journey is quite unique.

Matthew Whelen is Britain’s most tattooed man. He has 90% of his body covered in ink and has legally changed his name to King Of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite.

In 2013, the Passport Service refused to issue him a passport, explaining that the man’s unusual name didn’t fit their policies, even though Matthew changed his name by deed poll. The man successfully challenged this decision and received his passport with a new name in July 2014.

Matthew’s life, unsurprisingly, is a real rollercoaster, and it’s all owing to his unique body art. In total, he has spent £25,000 on tattoos, and he once even broke his own record by having 36 tattoo artists work on his body at the same time.

The heavily tattooed man faces different reactions from people.

Matthew is in awe with his own looks, and he likes how other people perceive him. He says, “I find it quite fascinating when I’m with new people because I’m unique, people stare, and it’s a new experience for them.”

He adds, “You don’t do something like this and not expect that.” But, as the man confessed later, “The reactions can go from amazement to hate.”

But the man really doesn’t care about all negative opinions about his body art. Back in 2014, he even spent another £6k on tattoos. But this time, he wanted to get them laser removed.

It wasn’t because he cared much about social opinion, but because he literally wanted to get a fresh canvas for new tattoos.

The extraordinary man faced some huge challenges even at work.

Matthew, 43, claims he was treated unfairly when he was employed at a call center. The man revealed that he was hidden from management when there was an “office reshuffle”, all because of his unique appearance.

In his interview, he said, “You bring ultimate restrictions upon yourself by looking different. That’s not just alternative people. Basically the reason why you won’t get a job is not that you look totally different, it’s because people won’t give you a job.”

The man expressed his attitude to the dress code in the companies, saying, “It also depends on what industry is and their dress code. I think a dress code should just be that — clothing.”

He added, “This appearance, this extreme alternative look can restrict people and has restricted me in the past, even when I’ve been in employment. I got shuffled around from one office to another when I was working in a call center. The managers were coming up, so they decided to have a move around in the office. The person they got to move was me. I got shifted from one end of the office down to the bottom when the managers come up.”

And here’s yet another story about a woman who’s got so many tattoos, that she now can’t get a job, even cleaning toilets.