- Legendary soccer star and men's fashion icon David Beckham apparently feels no pain, according to his tattoo artist.
- INSIDER spoke to the so-called "High Priest of Hollywood tattoo artists" Mark Mahoney about his favourite celebrity clients.
- He called Beckham the "ultimate tattoo customer."
- Mahoney also tattooed Beckham's eldest son, Brooklyn, which he called "a real honour."
Just when you thought David Beckham couldn't get any more perfect, the man apparently feels no pain.
That's according to Mark Mahoney, otherwise known as the "High Priest of Hollywood tattoo artists," whose clients range from Beckham to Johnny Depp to Angelina Jolie. He's even been cast in Lana Del Ray's music videos.
INSIDER caught up with Mahoney at the location of his residency, London's west-end Mandrake Hotel.
The Boston-born tattoo artist told us that while he and Johnny Depp go back "forever," David Beckham is the first to come to mind as the "ultimate tattoo customer."
"He picks good stuff, he's got great skin, he feels absolutely no pain," Mahoney told us.
He went on to add that even in the most painful places, the retired footballer doesn't bat an eyelid.
"I've tattooed a lot of tattooers on their legs and they'll wince, you know, but David doesn't ever," he said.
There may be some credence to the idea that athletes can handle more pain than us mortals. A study published in the journal "Pain" found that athletes use certain cognitive strategies to push through pain for longer than most, according to TIME magazine.
Professional soccer players also spend their lives getting kicked in the legs, tearing muscles, and spraining their ankles — so their experience with pain is probably a lot more developed than most people's.
At the time of writing, 77 players in the English Premier League are currently suffering from some kind of injury, according to PhysioRoom.
"Life must be pain for him [David Beckham]," Mahoney said, "to get tattooed in some of these places and have it not hurt an iota."
Mahoney also tattooed Beckham's eldest son, Brooklyn, an experience that he called "a real honour."
"To do a second generation, it felt great, and the fact that he got a design that his dad had, that's really cool.
"I know at 18, I was trying to do the opposite of what my dad was up to. So, I was really happy and proud to be a part of that."
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