Move over MileyCyrusCarl, there’s a new superfan in town! Meet Jayne Bailey, a single mom who is so insanely devoted to One Direction that she has TWENTY tattoos dedicated to Harry, Zayn, Louis, Liam and Niall inked on various parts of her body, including some that are exact replicas of the boys’ own tats. In addition to some original artwork – including the 1D logo she has inked on her wrist – Jayne has also copied Harry Styles’ tattoo of the two swallows on his chest, Louis Tomlinson’s tattoos of the stag on his shoulder and the large bird on his arm, and many many more. She also has tats of each bandmember’s date of birth and their signature. Oh yeah….and she’s 47 years old.
Jayne’s obsession with One Direction began in 2010, when the boybanders competed on The X-Factor, and was reaffirmed when Liam Payne visited her pub during Christmas and offered up some autographs for her and her daughter, Aisling. “I love the band. I think they’re great,” Jayne says about the One Direction boys. “It’s something me and my daughter can do together.” It’s a big jump from putting 1D posters up around the house and going to concerts with your 13-year-old daughter, to going under the needle in the name of a boy band, Jayne. But that’s not the way she sees it.
Jayne got her first 1D-inspired tattoo in April 2012, and she has been adding to her collection since then, with a main goal in mind of turning her One Direction montage into a tattoo sleeve. “People stare but I just get used to it,” Jayne has said about her One Direction tattoo collection. “I’ve had abuse on Twitter – even from 13- and 14-year-old girls. They say things like, ‘They will think you’re stupid, they’ll hate you.’” As for Jayne’s 13-year-old daughter Aisling, even she is skeptical about her mom’s tattoo obsession. “I think some of my mum’s tattoos are really awful but some of them are kinda cool,” she said. “I like the signature tattoos but hate the big stag one.”
Like the die-hard Miley Cyrus fan Carl McCoid, who has more than a dozen tattoos devoted to the 20-year-old pop star, Jayne Bailey isn’t afraid to be a little bit different when it comes to repping the One Direction boys. “Some people look at me strangely but the people that know me, know that it’s who I am,” Jayne said. “I’ll be devastated if they break up, but I’m old enough to know what I’m getting myself into.” And, according to Jayne, she is far from finished with her One Direction tattoos. “I do want more but I’m a single mum, so often it’s a choice between a tattoo and shopping – and we need to eat.” Well, at least she’s got her priorities straight, right?
