Britain’s most tattooed man who spent £40,000 on inking himself, has revealed what he looked like before.
Mathew Whelan, 45, from Birmingham, changed his name to King Of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite, in 2008.
The body art enthusiast, who goes by King of Ink Land for short, claims he’s spent more than 1,600 hours under the needle.
In addition, he says he holds the record for having the most tattoo artists working on him at one time, after he had 36 artists inking him simultaneously in February 2016 during the Needle Gangsters Tattoo Expo at the iPro Stadium in Derby.
His interest in body modifications was sparked when he was just nine-years-old, and since then, he’s had his eyes stained black, his nipples removed, his ears shaped and his whole body covered in tattoos.
But long before the bold black-and-grey artwork took over his face, torso, arms and even his eyes, King of Ink Land was just an ordinary young man.
Now resurfaced snaps show his remarkable journey from fresh-faced Brummie to full-blown inked out King of Ink Land. In images taken when he was just 18-years-old, the now-King of Ink Land is barely recognisable, sporting a clean-shaven face, clear skin and a tight buzz cut.
Another snap shows the ink lover aged just 16, and showing off his very first tattoo, a bulldog. The image shows him posing by the side of his bed.
However, it wasn’t long before he started tattooing his face: a picture taken just a few years later shows a slew of small designs across his visage.
The resurfaced snaps come just days after King Of Ink Land revealed facial recognition technology used by adult websites in the UK is failing to recognise his heavily tattooed face.
Under rules that came into force last week, introducing stricter checks under Ofcom’s children’s codes, people visiting these sites should now be shown a screen which offers them several different ways to verify their age
Now the technology is mistaking his face for a mask and locking him out of live webcam chats.
The entrepreneur believes he is facing discrimination based on his permanent, tattooed appearance.
Speaking to Metro, he said: ‘It’s as important as the name really and I changed my name legally.
‘Without a name you haven’t got an identity, and it’s the same with a face. It’s my skin, my permanent identity.’
However, the issues with his heavily tattooed face don’t stop there: the 45-year-old previously admitted it can cause challenges in everyday life.
He’s often avoided on public transport in Birmingham, with people choosing to stand up, rather than take a seat next to him. He also frequently catches strangers secretly taking photos of him in public, which sometimes leads to confrontation.
The 45-year-old has previously spoken about giving up getting inked to clear his £66,000 mortgage.
‘Getting tattoos can be an addiction, however, this is a lifestyle for me, which I can start and pause whenever I please,’ King Of Ink Land, said.
‘I’m taking a break from being inked while I concentrate on clearing my mortgage, so I’ll be slowing down over the next few years.’
The ink fiend says he may still get tattoos ‘every other year’ but has a budgeting plan in place.
‘This means I’ll have to limit my lifestyle,’ he said. ‘But I’ll be happy to have that out of the way and done.’
‘They [the tattoos] are part of my journey, and I will go on to evolve more at some point in the future – just not anytime soon.’
As well as placing the tattoo needle to one side, he will also remove some of his modifications, including an implant in his hand.
