Married To A Monster: Meet Family Man Addicted To Tattoo

14 years after they tied the knot, Lisa Gordon whose husband is now covered in tattoo says she struggles to recognise the man she fell in love with.

Speaking to Mirror Online, Lisa says that she can barely stand the sight of her husband because in the past seven years Keith, 59, has become transformed from Mr Average to one of the most ­tattooed men in the country – ­covered in body art from head to toe. People stare at him whenever he goes out, which is tough for Lisa.

She told the Sunday People: “I would never have ­married him if he looked the way he does now. I always wanted a man who appears ­respectable and who the children can look up to.
“Instead I look at him and I think, ‘What have I married?’
“If I could get a magic wand I would wave it and take all the tattoos off. Sometimes I look at his face and try to remember what it used to be like when we met.”

Lisa admits she treasures the ­moments when they are together with the lights out.
“When we’re lying in bed in the dark I don’t see his tattoos.
“I can touch his face and ­remember what he used to look like.
“Sometimes when we’re sleeping, I sing that Rihanna song Monster.
“I feel like I’m sleeping with a monster in my bed.”

For Keith, an admin worker, his wife’s refusal to ­accept the way he looks is hard to take. He said: “I don’t give a damn about what ­anyone else thinks about me. The only thing that does upset me is Lisa not accepting my tattoos. It makes me sad. She’s my wife and I do feel like she should support me. I’ve got enough haters.”

Keith’s passion for body art has complex roots. He has suffered from obsessive compulsive disorder for more than 40 years and claims his tattoos have helped him cope with it.

Long-suffering Lisa has stuck by her man because she can see the ­difference the tattoos have made to his everyday life.

She said: “I don’t like them but I know they make him ­happy. Before, he was depressed and suffered with OCD. He used to make me mad ­doing OCD stuff. Now he’s a lot calmer and happier.
“Perhaps I shouldn’t care, because it makes me sound shallow.
“But I just can’t bring myself to like the way they look.”

Lisa was 29 and Keith 46 but ­despite the 16-year age difference she was smitten. A month after they started dating, Lisa told Keith about her one-year-old daughter Diana Rose back home in the Philippines. And when they married in July 2002 Lisa was five months pregnant with their first child together, Jamie-Lee, now 11. The couple, who live in Romford, East London, ­settled into family life and had two more kids, Ricky, nine and Jennifer, six. All four children’s names and ­birthdays are tattooed on Keith’s ­fingers.

Lisa said: “At least he doesn’t look old. Before, he did look older but now he looks younger. My friends can’t believe he’s almost 60. They think he’s 30 or 40. Sometimes Keith will point to an old guy with grey hair and say, ‘Do you want me to look like him?’
“That’s the only time I think he maybe looks better.”

Despite her dislike of his tattoos, the couple are still very much in love.

Keith said: “We’re totally ­incompatible but it works. We don’t like anything the same. I like heavy metal but she likes Engelbert Humperdinck.”

And although she thinks his tattoos are ugly – Lisa still fancies Keith.

She laughed as she said: “Sometimes I don’t understand myself why I’ve stayed… when you look at what I ­married and what he looks like now.

“But we’ve been together 14 years and we do love each other. He only looks like a lunatic, but he’s not.

“He’s attractive to me because he’s my husband.

“He may be a monster but he’s my monster.”

 

Source: mirror.co.uk