A 65-year-old tattoo obsessed dad says he has spent thousands to ink every inch of his body in a bid to cover up his ageing skin. Ray Houghton, from Manchester, says he has spent 264 hours across 32 sessions getting tattoos.
The gym buff who has left almost no stone unturned in his tattooing journey says he gets requests from men to see his private parts 'all the time'. Ray says he got his first tattoos back when he was a teenager and was a member of the Royal Artillery.
His infatuation with tattooing began when he decided to cover up eight 'embarrassing' tattoos and he has been under the needle ever since.
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Speaking about his full body quest and messages from curious fans, the dad-of-one said: "I wanted it done for a while but my regular tattooist wouldn't do it so I had to find another one.
"Now I get lots of messages on social media from men asking to see my tattooed penis all the time. It's always from men, never any women.
"I send it as it's all over the internet anyway." Ray says the excessive tattooing is to cover up the varicose veins and wrinkles that come with getting older which he is not a fan of.
Speaking about the procedure to have his privates tattooed back in 2018 and his reasoning, Ray said: "I don't feel the pain anymore but the tattooist couldn't believe I wanted to get such a sensitive area done.
"There was quite a bit of blood and it was uncomfortable to walk the next day. I was so desperate to get it done. I didn't like to look in the mirror and see my ageing skin. I like to look young.
"I hated seeing varicose veins and wrinkles. It's horrible.
"We used a rolling pin because that was the easiest way for the tattoo to be done. You can't just do it on a bench or work top.
"It was quite weird at first but it made a lot of sense. It worked out perfect really."
Ray, who now lives in Spain and owns a gym in Alicante, was crowned North West coast Bodybuilding Champion in 1989. He has his face, hands, feet and even his bum covered in Maori-inspired designs.
He joined the Royal Artillery in his teens and got tattoos on his arms and legs in a caravan near the base from a man called “Sailor Bill”. But the eight inkings - including a boat, the words ‘mum’ and ‘dad’, a naked woman and a Geisha weren't to Ray's taste and he wanted them covered up.
He also had to have the designs on his abs altered as they initially didn't fit in with the rest of his tats. Ray said: "I had my abs altered too as the first time I had them done I wasn't expecting to have my whole body done so it didn't match with the pattern."
Since completing his new look, Ray says he is "stopped for autographs" when out walking his dog. He said: "Everyone loves the designs.
"When I go walking with my dog people stop me and want autographs, it's unbelievable. People want to take pictures of me too. How many people get stopped at my age to ask have a photo with them? Probably not very many."
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