One of UK’s most tattooed men from Essex has just 3% of his skin …

One of UK’s most tattooed men from Essex has just three per cent of his skin left without ink after getting more designs in his mission to fill up his entire body surface. Keith Gordon, 67, didn’t start getting tattoos until he turned 52 – but now he has hundreds.

Now one of the UK’s most inked up men, who even has tattoos covering his head, lips and eyelids – still wants more. In recent months he has had around five sessions – including a devil design on one leg, his wife and children’s names and the words ‘f*** off* in a 1.5inch gap on his lower leg.

Keith estimates he has just three per cent left of white space on his body – with the remaining gaps left on his legs. He plans to fill these with shading to leave him completely covered in ink, and said he has no idea how many tattoos he has in total – or has had done recently.

Keith, from Romford, gets stopped everywhere he goes by people shocked by his unique look. He has no idea what all the tats cost in total – but says his head and face ink alone set him back £6k.

Retiree Keith has made appearances in EastEnders and Jurassic Park thanks to his unique look – and is the self-appointed “coolest looking guy in Essex”. Keith, a dad-of-three, said: “I have no regrets about looking like this, although it makes basic tasks a bit challenging.

“I get stares constantly and people come up to me asking if they hurt and what they cost. Being heavily tattooed though, it’s like an addiction. You’re chasing the high and the euphoria of getting more tattoos, each more outrageous than the last.

Keith Gordon, 66, is one of Britain’s most inked up men, but not everyone is a fan of his crazy body tattoos (Image: Courtesy Keith Gordon / SWNS)

“At the moment now I just want to get rid of any white spaces. I’m going towards total coverage now.” Keith got his first tattoos at 17-years-old – but underwent several skin grafts four years later to remove them.

He then lived tattoo free until he was 52, when he suddenly decided he missed his old body art. So he went back to the tattoo parlour to reinvent himself, but this time took the look to new extremes.

From having body art removed as a young man, Keith went full circle – tattooing most of his body, even his eyelids. Fifteen years later, there is now next to no skin he has left uncovered and Keith has spent tens of thousands of pounds on his tattoos.

Keith said: “I don’t know how many there are in total. I’ve lost count. It is just one big project. But getting my whole head tattooed was a very extreme, intense experience. At times it was very, very painful especially around the corner of the eyes, the lip and parts of the inner ear – that was absolutely killer.”

Keith Gordon, 66, is one of Britain’s most inked up men, but not everyone is a fan of his crazy body tattoos (Image: Courtesy Keith Gordon / SWNS)

Keith said he often gets stared at in public for his unique look – especially his face and head tattoos. While he has “no idea” precisely what his tattoos cost in total, his face and head inking’s cost him £6.5k alone.

The retired civil servant said: “Looking like I do, I am treated differently but it’s a lifestyle. I see it as living outside the box even though it can be challenging doing basic things.

“Whenever I have people come to my house – workmen, delivery drivers, plumbers – I have to warn them on the phone ‘I don’t look anything like I sound’. People come up to me in the streets – the two most common questions are ‘did that hurt?’ and ‘how much did that cost?’

“The novelty does wear off a bit after getting the same questions for 15 years, but all in all I’m still happy to look like this.” Keith, who has made appearances in Jurassic Park and EastEnders, has made his latest mission to achieve “total coverage”.

He is aiming to cover up all and every bit of white space left on his body, except for that beneath his boxers. He has some “normal” ones – such as his wife and children’s names – as well as some “satanic” designs that feature a devil.

Meet the man covered head to toe in tattoos – who is so scary he says he gets kicked out of supermarkets. (Image: Courtesy Keith Gordon / SWNS)

He also has some which he says are “outrageous” – including his most recent ink which saw him get the words ‘f*** off* in a 1.5inch gap on his lower leg. “I like to shock people,” he said.

In the past year he was visited the tattoo shop for five or six sessions to add to his vast collection of inkings. But is a struggle for him is to find new designs to get done – because he already has them all. He said: “I’ve got absolutely everything I could have already – it’s hard to think of what else to get to fill the spaces!”

But Keith feels it’s like an “addiction” – where he is always wanting more and more. He said: “It’s a kind of high, an addiction. You’re chasing the euphoria, wanting more outrageous. Where do you go when you reach the top? For now, I’m just going to keep going until everything’s covered.”

References

1. ^{^} The latest breaking news from Romford (www.essexlive.news)