Boy George’s face tattoos linked to religion – Bolan and Bowie on his arms Wed 9 November 2022 16:29 Updated Sat 12 November 2022 10:29 Celine Byford
David Schmidt
Published Apr 06, 2026
Boy George has officially kicked off his I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! experience. Along the way, cameras have caught him revealing his hair without a hat, as well as his many body and face tattoos.
The Eighties pop icon has been chanting in the jungle and, during the series’ first challenge, even managed to make carrying his backpack “look cool” in Olivia Attwood’s eyes. He’s cut his jungle hat to appear more like a crown and, in the process, has revealed more of the tattoos on his face and head.
From a peace symbol on his temple to the Jewish Star of David inked on the top of his head, Boy George has multiple tattoos on his face, head and arms, which reportedly link to different religions, OK reports.
Boy George’s face tattoos
Boy George has several face tattoos, including a peace symbol on his temple, the Jewish Star of David on the top of his head, a Christian cross on the side of his face and a lotus flower at the back of his head. He also has a neck tattoo.
“It’s kind of like all the religions. It’s quasi religious [but] I’m a Buddhist, a practising Buddhist,” George revealed to HuffPost in 2013. “My head was shaved when I had the tattoos done and I was intending to tattoo my whole head.”
He continued by admitting he changed his mind as it was “too painful” and added:
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.’
The singer had a “strong Catholic upbringing”, as per Huffington Post, before embracing Nichiren Buddhism, which he has been practising for four years. The religion derives from the teachings of 13th century Japanese priest Nichiren.
I’m A Celebrity star has Bolan and Bowie on his arms
Boy George doesn’t only have ink on his head and face but also on his arms. He has a tattoo of David Bowie on his right arm and one of T. Rex singer Marc Bolan on his left.
When the I’m A Celebrity contestant was ten, he used to sit outside singer David Bowie’s house because he was such a huge fan and wanted to catch a glimpse of the star. George didn’t get to actually meet him until 2005.
Boy George also has two stars underneath his Marc Bolan and David Bowie tattoos. Other ink on his arms include a large rose, a feather near the top of his right arm, and a large cross above that near his shoulder.
Here’s what his Marc Bolan tattoo looks like:
@NikkiSixx Will this do?
— Boy George (@BoyGeorge) October 7, 2018
No proof amid hair transplant rumours – George simply loves hats
When Boy George took his hat off, it was a rare sight for I’m a Celebrity viewers. The singer is renowned for wearing hats and once told US Weekly he owned about 200 of them. He said:
Some I get made and some I get from a store in London called A Child Of The Jago.
Many fans said they had assumed George was bald as he was always seen wearing hats, with many surprised to see a fair head of hair. That led to some making allegations of a hair transplant but there is no proof of that. One Twitter user wrote: “Anyone else floored by the fact Boy George has hair? I honestly thought he was bald.”
Reality Titbit and GRV Media have contacted Boy George’s representative for comment.
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