Britain's most tattooed man has said that he was turned away from an Australian nightclub due to his extreme look, which cost him thousands of dollars and 1,500 hours under the needle.
Matthew Whelen, 42, has covered almost 90% of his body in artwork which has taken over 1,500 hours to complete, and he's due for more time in the chair in January for blackout work on his left arm.
Whelan, who has changed his legal name to King Of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink - Ite, has revealed that the look can be a burden in everyday life.
Speaking to LBC, he has revealed that while on vacation in Australia, he was turned away from a nightclub due to the tattoos covering his face.
"I'm going back two and a half years when I went to Sydney, Australia," Whelan said. "They've got a policy to ban gangs and people with face tattoos, from a lot of bars, clubs, and restaurants."
He revealed that he was staying in a nice part of the city not too far from the Opera house and this added to the attitudes people held toward him.
"I tried to get into a nice restaurant and bar and then the nightclub on the night and security guards had seen me on a documentary on TV. But they were doing their job, they couldn't allow me into the venue because of their policy," Whelan explained.
He went on to state that he was allowed into the establishment the next night after he emailed in explaining who he was and let them know the reasons for the tattoos and how they weren't gang-related.
This conversation was sparked due to a recent report that a woman from the UK was made to watch her children's nativity play through a window due to her facial tattoos.
The mom of two sat down with the Daily Star where she also revealed that she had been barred from local pubs due to her extreme look and that she is forced to stay out of Christmas celebrations with her children out of fear of being judged by other parents.
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