Thinking of getting a tattoo? Make sure it's the right one

Cover-ups rectify poorly etched or unwanted ‘tats’ and are now a big part of artists’ business. But not all are fixable, says Jonathan deBurca Butler

JEREMY McConnell is covered in tattoos. The model and former Big Brother housemate got his first when he was a teenager.

“The first one I got was the poem on my chest,” says the 26-year-old. “It was for my mother. It says: ‘I dropped a tear in the ocean. The day I find it is the day I stop missing you.” Since that first, touching tattoo, he has added many more, including a skull on his left thigh, a flaming heart on his chest (naturally), a large butterfly on his throat, and a large wolf on his diaphragm.