The tattoo tribute to Newshub journalist Patrick Gower. Photo / Supplied
The tattoo tribute to Newshub journalist Patrick Gower. Photo / Supplied
The anonymous recipient of a Patrick Gower tribute tattoo was nominated for the job by a mate in Melbourne, who won the free tattoo through a Facebook competition.
The palm-sized portrait of Gower - along with the phrase "its the f**king news' - was inked by Whakatāne tattooist Rich Neilsen on Saturday.
The owner of the new tattoo was given little warning he would soon have the New Zealand celebrity inked on his body, with a friend in Melbourne contacting him to say he had won the competition for a free portrait tattoo.
"And I contacted Rich and he said 'Mate, you're getting a tattoo of Paddy Gower, when are you coming in'", he said.
"I think most of us in New Zealand are pretty big fans of Paddy, but I just thought it was a bit of a chuckle.
"It was a series of events and I just ran with it."
Normally working in a Japanese-inspired or old-school American style, tattooist Rich Neilsen had put the offer out on social media last month for a portrait tattoo – with the owner of the best idea getting the ink for free.
"I love doing a portrait every now and again. And I hadn't done one for about six months so I put up a post saying 'the best idea, I'll do it for free'," he said.
The tattoo tribute to Newshub journalist Patrick Gower. Photo / Supplied
He posted portraits of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Billy T K and Kim Dotcom to give people an idea of what he wanted.
The recipient said he had been "stoked" to get the Gower tattoo, and surprised to see how much interest it had created online.
"I think if you're going to get a tattoo or a portrait of a New Zealand icon why not go Paddy, he's definitely got the head for it," he said.
"It was all just done for a bit of a laugh and kind of ended up a lot bigger than I expected it to be.
"Got the tattoo on the Saturday and it was on The Project [TV show] on Monday."
He also confirmed he would be returning to have an apostrophe added to the "its" in the phrase inked above the portrait, which was located on his thigh.
"I didn't really think that was that much of a major but I think a bit of the country does seem to think it was a problem," he said.
He had many other tattoos which had all "joined together now", he said.
He was also no stranger to spontaneous tattoos, once getting a tattoo chosen by his tour group in Vietnam, while blindfolded.
"Luckily they chose something not so bad, the word Vietnam," he said.
