Charlotte Guttenberg and Charles Helmke, aged 76 and 81, from Melbourne, Florida, have been named ‘The World’s Most Tattooed OAPs’ for the fourth consecutive year.
The pair have spent around 2,000 hours of their lives tattooing their bodies, setting a Guinness World Record for being the most tattooed adult of their gender. The two first met at a tattoo shop in 2006 and quickly developed strong feelings for each other and began a relationship.
Charlotte, a 57-year-old woman in desperate need of tattoos, decided to call it quits after tattooing her entire body. Charles, whose friends and family call him “Chuck,” has more than 97 percent pigmented skin.
Charlotte uses body art to express herself through a creative medium. He sees himself as a living canvas on which to display his work, instead of having it framed and hanging on the wall like everyone else.
People of all ages were amazed by his actions, and some admired his courage and wanted to be like him. Charlotte (57), who lives with her second husband, decided to get a tattoo as a birthday present.
But his foray into body art continued. He came to the shop of an artist named Chuck, who offered to hold his hand while he stretched.
The two hit it off immediately and started dating a year later. Charlotte’s passion for tattoos grew rapidly every day, and with 216 decorations on her body, she entered the incredible Guinness Book of World Records for having the most feather tattoos on a person.
Charlotte has tattoos all over her body except her head and fingertips. She believes that skin tattoos do not affect how she sees herself or her life.
Chuck got his first tattoo at the age of 18 while serving in the US Army. After 41 years and one tattoo, Chuck decided to add two more tattoos to his collection, just like the first one. He then wore sleeves with intricate ink designs to cover the scars from third-degree burns on both arms.
The former self-defense teacher is said to have more tattoos than anyone else. He is about 6 meters tall and has 376 skull tattoos all over his body. He has so many tattoos on his body that he covers 97.5% of his body. When asked why they chose so many tattoos, they told The Independent in 2017: “Because it can.”
This shows not only their ambition, but also their awareness that there are no limits to how much they can express themselves through body art. Chuck and Charlotte approach body art in different ways. Chuck got his tattoo in memory of his late wife and Charlotte’s favorite tattoo is her first. Their tattoos are very different, but both have received unwanted attention as a result.
We don’t do this on purpose because there are beautiful patterns on the skin. Charlotte and Chuck were listed in the Guinness Book of World Records, which is a big deal.
He also received some criticism for his tattoos, but insisted that people who want to keep their skin thick and don’t like designs should not look at them. Many fans also asked for help with the couple’s tattoos. They want to involve young people in the tattoo debate.
