A woman dubbed “Britain’s most tattooed mum” has spoken out after being branded a bad parent due to her fondness for ink.
Melissa Sloan is a mum to seven children and often hits the headlines due to her controversial look, which includes more than 800 tattoos all over her body.
The 45-year-old says she adds up to three designs a week with her own needle gun, adding that she is constantly judged for her unique style.
Melissa, from Kidderminster said: “I get brutal messages from trolls every day. It’s really upsetting when they tell me I shouldn’t have kids or that my children will run away when they get older.
“Being bullied in this way is really tough. It happens in person too, when I do normal parent things like go to the supermarket or corner shop to get food. People stare at me or whisper.”
Previously, she’s talked about how going out in public is often “too much drama”, leaving her to rely on her partner to help out with the shopping so she can stay in, away from prying eyes. Melissa tries to not let the hate get to her.
She said: “Even though it’s painful, I’m beyond caring about other people’s opinions. But it does affect my life as I try not to go out too much because there’s always some kind of drama. I’m just a parent and my kids are happy. My tattoos don’t change that.”
Despite her appearance reportedly stopping her from getting a job, seeing her banned from pubs and from her children’s school plays, the mum intends to keep adding to her collection.
She said: “People think I look better without tattoos, but they aren’t going anywhere. I just like being crazy and having fun in my life, I’m not being boring. I will never stop having tattoos until the end.”
In November, Melissa said she was going to press pause on adding to her 800 tattoos, because she wanted to try and get pregnant with her eighth child.
Although she’s previously said she will “never stop” adding more ink to her body, she confessed that she was willing to stop her obsession for nine months in order to add to her family.
She told the Daily Star: “I won’t be having tattoos for about nine months. Well, you can have tattoos but I won’t be doing that. I just worry that it would harm the child, the baby that will be inside me. I’ll give up smoking as well and I don’t drink.”
