Inkredible… or a step tattoo far?
Some people like to keep their idols very close to their hearts
Imagine having Gemma Collins with you all day, every day. Sounds a bit exhausting, doesn’t it? Not for Billy Prager – last year, the hairdresser had a picture of Gemma, mid-tantrum, tattooed on his right leg, alongside the quote, “It’s going to be a long old slog for me this life.” It wasn’t even his first foray into GC ink – the 25 year old also boasts another of the reality star’s catchphrases, “Get that fire exit door, I’m off!” tattooed across his ribs.
Speaking to heat, Billy tells us, “I didn’t ever think I’d have Gemma’s face on me, but here we are. I find it funny and I like people’s reactions. Either they like it, or they think I’m nuts.”
It’s certainly a bold display of devotion – but then, these days, every person and their grandma has a tattoo, so super-fan ink is par for the course. Last year, 28-year-old Lee Crane hit the
headlines for having Ant & Dec’s portraits tattooed on his bum cheeks. He then went home and showed flatmate Matty O’hagan, who was so impressed by his friend’s work of arse (sorry, art) that he had his own butt inscribed with the charming visages of Phil Schofield and Holly Willoughby. “I just wanted one over him,” Matty, 19, later explained. “I just couldn’t resist. It took an hour-and-a-half on each cheek and was sore in a couple of patches, but it was all worth it.”
How far would YOU go in the name of celebrity worship? For some, they draw the line at copying their idol’s haircut, others draw the line on their skin – forever. Billy tells us he had his first Gemma tattoo after a night out (“I’d had a few to drink”). He chose the former TOWIE star because “she’s hilarious. She’s one of those people who doesn’t care – more people should be like that.”
Billy has his legs and arms tattooed and, when heat speaks to him, he’s just about to get a tattoo on his head – for him, it’s all a bit of harmless fun. Chelsie Cloey agrees. For her 20th tatt last October, the 23-year-old bartender chose a frisky image of Louis Theroux, posing with nothing but a feather boa, on her leg. “I thought I’d get it to make my friends and me laugh,” Chelsie tells us. “I really love it. No one tried to talk me out of it – everyone knows how much I love Louis. I now want to get David Attenborough on my other leg.”
A Theroux, er, tattoux is one thing, but what happens when you have a more niche celeb in mind? Step forward Katie Ode, who last summer had a silhouette image of Chris Taylor (from last year’s Love Island) tattooed onto the inside of her leg. “I was in
Benidorm with friends and this picture [of Chris on holiday, right] came up,” she tells us. “I was sunburnt, my hair was drained out from being in the pool, and I just thought, ‘That’s the mood I’m in right now’. Forty minutes later, it was done!”
Luckily, Katie’s devotion paid off – Chris saw it on Instagram. “He called me a ‘crazy crumpet’ and said I’d earned a follow from him,” Katie reveals. “I got a few people calling me an idiot and asking if I was a stalker. No, I’m just a 25 year old trying to have some fun.”
Still, committing to a tattoo can be risky, not least when it comes to the fleeting world of showbiz. The big question is, will you still love the star tomorrow? According to Billy, his devotion to Gemma
‘I thought I’d get it to make my friends laugh’ Chelsie
has been tested. “After I had my second tattoo, she contacted me and said she was going to take me out for lunch, but I never heard from her – she’s full of shit,” he tells
us. “I get that she’s busy, but you shouldn’t promise something you won’t do.” But that doesn’t mean he regrets his tatts. “I won’t remove them, but I might just turn the whole leg into a montage,” he tells us. “Next, I’d quite like to get Kim Woodburn.” According to a spokesperson at Eclipse Tattoo studio in Camden, celeb crazes come in waves: sometimes, people want a replica of their idol’s tattoo, other times, they come in with their signature. Often, when a celeb dies, fans want to pay homage. “We get requests for a lot of historical figures, like Muhammad Ali,” we’re told. “But we recently had a guy come in wanting an Only Fools And Horses tattoo. If they really want it and have their hearts set on it, then we’re not going to judge.”
As Lee and Matty have both proven with their tatts, the bottom line is simple: it’s all a matter of personal choice. Sure, tattoos are everlasting, but who’s to say a person’s admiration of their idol can’t endure? Provided that they think before they ink, there’s no harm done – just a little bit of pain. ■