My body is 70% covered by tattoos – I’ve been ignored by people at work and get followed around the supermarket by security guards
A woman who has 70 percent of her body covered in tattoos has revealed she is ignored at work and followed by security guards in shops.
Sarah Hutchinson, 29, an actress from Ancoats, Manchester, says she is typecast as a criminal or homeless when it comes to roles.
Known to fans as Joey, colleagues have told her that the artwork covering her arms and legs is intimidating, leading people to assume she is ‘mean’.
Ms Hutchinson, who starred in ITV’s The Cabin, got her first tattoo – ‘4ever in my heart’ on her wrist when she was 15 – and estimates she has spent around £7,000 on body art since then.
Speaking about an incident that took place in a supermarket where she was chased by a security guard, Sarah said: ‘I was at Marks & Spencer in the summer and was wearing shorts and a top.
A woman who has 70 percent of her body covered in tattoos has revealed she has lost her job and is being followed around shops by security guards
Sarah Hutchinson, 29, an actress from Ancoats, Manchester, says she is being typecast as a criminal or homeless
Ms Hutchinson, who starred in ITV’s The Cabin, got her first tattoo – ‘4ever in my heart’ on her wrist when she was 15 – and estimates she has spent around £7,000 on tattoos since then.
‘I was walking around looking for something for lunch when my friend said the security guard was following me.
“I purposely walked the aisles to see if that was him – and he was. I told him, “I’ll steal something if you keep looking at me.”
‘I’m really used to it, sometimes I’m not aware of it and it’s my partner who points it out to me.
‘It sounds crazy these days, but I get stared at pretty much everywhere I go.
‘I don’t steal. I’ll wave the bag and show that I don’t steal.’
Sarah, who also works as a personal trainer and musician, says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word ‘why’ are her biggest regrets.
Compounding the problem is an ex’s name tattooed on the bottom of her wedding ring finger, which she says is too painful to remove, but adds that her friend won’t marry her while it’s still there.
Sarah estimates that repairing or removing some of the unwanted work could cost her around £1,500.
After the huge amount of body art she has opted for in the past, Sarah advised anyone wanting a tattoo to never book an artist who charges less than £350 a day
She also recommends waiting at least three months after choosing a design to have it colored
Based on her own experience, Sarah advises anyone wanting a tattoo to never book an artist who charges less than £350 per day.
She also recommends waiting at least three months after choosing a design to have it colored to make sure you’re happy with what you’ve chosen.
She added that she was stereotyped by colleagues and given the same acting roles because she has so many tattoos.
Sarah continued, “Everyone has this perception that I’m mean. People I met at work told me they hadn’t spoken to me in a long time because they said I looked intimidating.
‘I’m always cast as the homeless person. I’m typecast as a criminal – I only get really crazy shit because of my tattoos.
‘I think they are still associated with bad behaviour, and being stupid or idiotic; people associate that with criminal.
Despite having a number of tattoos that she has had to hide because she regrets them, such as a list of five friends’ names that she got on a night out, she said there are some body artworks that she is happy with.
She added that she was stereotyped by colleagues and given the same acting roles because she has so many tattoos
Sarah, who also works as a personal trainer and musician, says her hand tattoos of a star, a moon and the word ‘why’ are her biggest regrets
Her other tattoos include sea-themed tattoos, including a bottle with the words “Not all who wander are lost,” and ancient Egyptian murals that she says she has no regrets about.
She explained: ‘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 for blacked out skeletal fingers so it will be the image of the bone through the finger as that is the only tattoo that will cover it.’
She added: “I have a lot of sloppy work. I went to cheap people and so I have a lot of them [poorly done] artwork on me that I’m going to fix.’