Zayn Malik, self-confessed ‘bad boy’ of The X Factor’s One Direction, may be an international heartthrob, but his Holloway tattoo-artist had ‘no clue’ who he was even after she had inked his forearm.
Rose Whittaker, a 25-year-old tattooist at Haunted parlour on Holloway Road, gave Zayn his twelfth tattoo this month: a Batman-style ‘ZAP!’ on his right forearm.
But she revealed to Islington Now that she had absolutely no idea who he was, even once he had explained his global stardom.
She said: “I had no clue who he was when I was doing the tattoo.
“For most tattooists One Direction isn’t really on their playlist. We don’t exactly keep up with ‘pop culture’, let’s put it that way.”
That famous tattoo in full
Rose, who is more Guns ‘n’ Roses than Gaga, recalled a lengthy conversation with the pop star to get to the bottom of his supposed fame.
“He was like ‘oh, yeah, I’m in a band’.
“He said he was in One Direction; they’d come third on The X Factor and sold out Madison Square Gardens. I was like ‘oh, that’s cool, well done’. I guess I should have heard of him,” she said.
Even if Rose didn’t recognise him, Zayn, who draws most of his tattoos himself, has been the source of much interest to glossy magazines.
One such weekly rang the Holloway artist fishing for stories after news broke that Haunted was the 19-year-old’s local.
“I got a call from Heat magazine the day afterwards to get some gossip.
“I wouldn’t know if he’d said anything interesting, but the woman from Heat kept trying to get me to say he cried, and honestly, no. He was one of the best sitters I’ve ever had; he took it well and he tipped,” the Islington tatooist said.
