Boy George tattoos: face tattoo explained, how many does I’m a Celebrity campmate have, what do they mean?

Boy George is the most expensive campmate I’m a Celebrity has ever had, costing ITV an estimated £500,000 for his appearance. The Culture Club lead singer is normally seen wearing a trademark oversized hat, and he kept this fashion as he entered the camp. However, over the course of the show the singer has been seen bare-headed and viewers have spotted a number of interesting facial ink.

George is this year’s most tattooed campmate, having gotten most of them before he gave up drinking more than a decade ago. This is what tattoos Boy George has and what each of them means:

How many tattoos does Boy George have?

Boy George has too many tattoos to count - on his head alone he has at least five, plus one one on his neck. He also has several tattoos on both arms.

What do Boy George’s face tattoos mean?

He has a Star of David covering the top of his head - this is a symbol of the Jewish faith. George also has a Christian cross on the right side of his face, however, he is not Jewish or Christian. He has a peace symbol on his temple - this one is fairly self explanatory.

Another tattoo which may have a religious meaning is the name ‘Govinda’ which is above the lotus flower and is normally covered by his hairline - it can only be seen when he is sporting a shaved head. Govinda is another name for the Hindu god Vishnu.

Speaking to HuffPost in 2013 the Karma Chameleon singer said: “It’s kind of like all the religions. It’s quasi religious [but] I’m a Buddhist, a practising Buddhist. My head was shaved when I had the tattoos done and I was intending to tattoo my whole head, then I just thought, no. It’s too painful.

"When I stopped drinking I lost the desire to be tattooed on the head. The top one I had done in Denver when I was quite drunk after a night in a club, ‘Oh yeah, you can tattoo my head; come on, let’s go back to your tattoo parlour’”.

Additionally, George has a large lotus flower tattoo which covers most of the back of his head. A lotus flower normally represents purity and rebirth.George has a tattoo on his neck, a graphic ‘G’, which may represent his stage name and his birth name - he was born George Alan O’Dowd and took the stage name Boy George around 1981 when he formed Culture Club.

Does Boy George have a David Bowie tattoo?

Boy George has two big tattoos on his arms - on his right arm he has a tattoo of David Bowie as Ziggy Stardust. George was a huge Bowie fan growing up and his music and style is heavily inspired by the glam rock singer. When Bowie died in 2016, George wrote a tribute to his late friend, saying: “My childhood is peppered with memories of being a Bowie super fan and I have loved him constantly throughout my adult life”.

On his left arm, George has a tattoo of another glam rock legend and icon Marc Bolan, guitarist and singer with the band T. Rex.