The “King of Ink” gave up tattoos for a while to pay off his mortgage (6 photos)

The 44-year-old from Birmingham, who calls himself the King of Ink Land (his full name is King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite), is the most tattooed man in the United Kingdom. These are difficult times: over the past year he has not gotten a single new tattoo, and also refused body modification.





King of Ink Land King Body Art The Extreme Ink-ite, formerly known as Matthew Whelan, regularly makes headlines for his extreme passion for tattooing and body modification.



A year ago he revealed that he had given up his body fashion habit to pay off his £66,000 mortgage, and now, a year later, he has admitted that he hasn't gotten a single new tattoo.

Matthew Whelan at the beginning of his difficult journey



In addition to putting his tattoo needle aside, he will also remove some of his modifications, including the implant in his arm.



“Unfortunately, the leather on one side is thinning and I’m worried it might tear,” says King Of Ink Land.

It turns out that several years ago he almost lost his arm.

“I don’t want to be in the same medical situation again as I was a few years ago with the knuckle duster implant. The skin tore, then it began to rot and fill with plasma, which had to be pumped out several times. I was left with a scar and my arm was slightly deformed, but the implant was removed in time before I faced a serious risk of blood poisoning. “I can’t afford to let something like that happen again because it almost cost me my arm, so I made the tough decision to remove the crown implant before it was too late,” he admits.

“I managed to go a whole year without tattoos, and it doesn’t even seem strange,” he continues. “It’s no longer something I crave or desire.”

King Of Ink Land, who calls himself Body Art for short, claims to have spent more than 1,500 hours under the needle and set a record in February 2016 when 36 tattoo artists worked on him at once.



Since becoming interested in body modification at age nine, Matthew has dyed his eyes black, removed his nipples, reshaped his ears and finally changed his name to achieve his goal.



Although he doesn't keep a tally of how much it has cost him to date, he says his recent break has helped him pay off almost £36,000 of his mortgage.

“My rate is about to jump up quite a bit, but I'm staying within my budget. I want to get rid of my mortgage in the next three years, and I will be happy if I can do this. Life is like that and priorities change, so when everything is paid for, the tattoo session will seem that much more special.”