by Natasha Leake
A woman whose body is 70 per cent covered by tattoos says she has lost work and gets followed round shops by security guards.
Sarah Hutchinson, 29, known by fans as Joey, is an actress and says the ink art which covers 70% of her body means she gets typecast as a criminal or homeless person.
Colleagues tell her the artwork – which covers her arms and legs – is intimidating and people assume she’s “mean”.
Sarah, who starred in ITV’s The Cabin, got her first tattoo – “4ever in my heart” on her wrist when she was 15 – and reckons she has spent around £7,000 on tattoos since.
The personal trainer and musician says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word ‘why’ are her biggest regret.
She has an ex’s name tattooed her wedding ring finger – but it’s too painful to remove, and she says her girlfriend won’t marry her while it’s still there.
Sarah reckons repairing or covering up “shoddy” work will cost her £1500 – and her top tips to others include never booking an artist who costs less than £350 a day.
She also recommends waiting at least three months AFTER picking a design, before having it inked.
Sarah, from Ancoats, Manchester, said: ““Everyone has this perception that I’m mean.
“People I met at work have told me they didn’t speak to me for a really long time because they said I looked intimidating.
“I always get cast as the homeless person. I’m typecast as a criminal – I only get really crap things because of my tattoos.
“It’s really crappy because I’m gay and I know that enhances my chances with things, but my tattoos do the opposite.
“It annoys me because people automatically think that people who have tattoos are knobheads.
“I think they’re still associated with bad behaviour, and being stupid or idiotic – people pair that with criminal.
“I was in Marks & Spencer at summertime, wearing shorts and a top.
“I was walking round, trying to find something for lunch, when my girlfriend said that the security guard was following me.
“I purposely walked round the aisles to see if he was – and he was. I said to him ‘I will steal something if you keep watching me’.
“I’m really used to it – sometimes I’m oblivious to it and it’s my partner that points it out.
“It sounds mad in this day and age but I get stared at pretty much everywhere I go.
“I’m not stealing – I’ll swing the bag and show them I’m not stealing.”
Sarah’s tattoos include a cover-up of five friend’s names which she got on a night out.
“I had 5 names tattooed on my bum in a list and I’ve had them covered now, but you can still sort of see it through the cover up,” she said.
“They were my best mates names, and I was 18. I got a sixth name from someone I met one night in Magaluf and I never spoke to them again – so that was probably a dumb move!”
Her other tattoos include sea-themed tattoos, including a bottle with the words ‘Not all who wander are lost’, and ancient Egyptian murals which she says she doesn’t regret.
“There’s a lot I don’t regret, it’s just the bad artistry and the one I got as a kid that I do. I wouldn’t have them all removed if I could, just corrected.”
She is hoping to get a black out skeleton tattoo on her two hands in the next few months to repair some tattoo work she had done.
“My hand’s are my biggest regret – they’re a bit scruffy and I’m currently in the process of getting them covered,” she said.
“They’re not really bad, but they’re just a bit shoddy.
“I have one of my ex-girlfriend’s names tattooed on my wedding ring finger. I’ve tried to have it removed but it was too painful so I have a blurry name now.
“My girlfriend said she will never marry me until its fully removed but it hurts too much to get it removed – so I guess we will never get married.
“I have a moon and a star, and next to that I have the word ‘why’. I ask ‘why’ I did it.
“Now I’m booked in for blacked out skeleton fingers so it will be the image of the bone through the finger because that’s the only tattoo that will cover it.”
Her advice to people considering tattoos is to “pick a design and wait a minimum of three months before you get it”.
She added: “I have a lot of shoddy work. I went to cheap people and so I have a lot of crappy artwork on me that I’m getting fixed.
“They have to have a decent waiting list. If they have walk-ins they are bad.
“Anything less than £350 a day will be bad.”
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