Ant McPartlin’s tattoos can be hard to spot when he’s wearing a suit, so they tend to make headlines when he rolls up his sleeves. There’s a family tree, a John Lennon tribute, a rose and arrow, dog designs, recovery-related ink, and a chest tattoo for his wife, Anne-Marie.
The collection has grown through some major changes in his life. Ant has spoken about recovery, marriage, and family, and those subjects appear in the tattoos. He also has a sense of humour about them. Not every mark comes with a big speech or a confirmed explanation. That blend of certainty and mystery makes the collection feel lived-in.
The family tree is the centre of the collection
The largest and most personal design is the family tree tattoo on Ant’s shoulder. Its branches hold the names of the people and animals closest to him. Public photos show names linked to his wife Anne-Marie, her daughters Daisy and Poppy, their son Wilder, and the family dogs Milo, Bumble, and Hurley.
There was a brief online fuss when fans thought Hurley’s name had been left off. Hurley is the Labrador Ant shares with his former wife Lisa Armstrong. Ant clarified that the name was there, but a newborn covered it in the original photo. His reply was simple: Hurley was on the tree too.
That small correction says a lot about the tattoo. It isn’t a generic tree picked from a tattoo design book; its branches carry the names of the people and dogs in his family. The shoulder piece works like a private family chart that happens to appear in public photos.
Wilder’s arrival also helps explain why the tattoo drew attention. The design was shown around the time Ant and Anne-Marie welcomed their son, tying the newest name to a major family moment. The tree has a timeline as well as a meaning.
His John Lennon tattoo turns a song into a tribute
On his right forearm, Ant has a large circular tattoo based on the Imagine mosaic at Strawberry Fields in Central Park. “Imagine” sits at the centre, surrounded by a black-and-white pattern echoing the memorial’s tiles. The circle gives the reference a shape of its own instead of looking like a photograph copied onto skin.
The tattoo was revealed before an I’m a Celebrity series and quickly became one of the easiest pieces to identify. It also fits Ant’s long-standing interest in music. Rather than a generic guitar or lyric, he chose a particular place, image, and word with history behind them.
From a distance, the design can look like a mandala or wheel. Up close, the centre clarifies the reference. The word “Imagine” is what identifies it, while the surrounding pattern gives the forearm a dark, graphic look.
There are two ways to read it. The straightforward one is a John Lennon tribute. It can also suggest hope, especially alongside Ant’s family and recovery tattoos. Its meaning is personal, while the reference is deliberately public.
Anne-Marie appears close to his heart
Ant has several tattoos linked to his wife. The clearest is “Amzie” across his chest above his heart. Amzie is Anne-Marie’s nickname, and the placement makes the connection plain. It’s a small, direct tribute rather than a symbol that needs decoding.
He also has a simple letter A inside a heart on his chest, added in 2021. One design uses a nickname and the other an initial, but both point to the same person. Neither tries to hide who inspired it.
Reports from the same period also show a sun with black wings on his stomach. Ant hasn’t offered the same detailed explanation for every part of it, so it’s best to leave that uncertain instead of turning a guess into a fact.
Anne-Marie’s presence isn’t limited to one tattoo. Her nickname appears in the family tree, the chest piece, and the heart initial. The repeated reference feels like an ongoing thread, not a one-off gesture.
The rose and arrow carry different kinds of meaning
Ant’s arms include a rose tattoo and an arrow tattoo, one on each forearm. The pair balances visually even though the designs are separate. Roses are often associated with love, while Ant has described the arrow as personal and positive.
That’s as far as the confirmed explanation goes. People often assign arrows a universal meaning—direction, momentum, or getting through a difficult stretch—but Ant hasn’t settled on one specific interpretation publicly. The safest description is the one he has given: it means something positive to him.
The rose has a softer look than the Lennon mosaic. Its long stem runs vertically, while the arrow points across the skin and gives the arm a sharper line. Together, they keep the collection from becoming one solid block of dark shapes.
These designs are simple, but they’re part of Ant’s everyday image. His arms show on television, in holiday photos, and whenever he presents in short sleeves. Simple symbols become part of his familiar on-screen look.
His dog tattoos are a proper family tribute
Ant’s love of dogs shows up beyond the family tree. He has a design of three cartoon dogs on his forearm, representing Milo, Bumble, and Hurley. These aren’t anonymous pet portraits; the dogs are treated as part of the family.
The design helps explain why Hurley’s apparent absence caused a reaction. Fans who knew the story were looking for his name, and Ant wanted them to know Hurley hadn’t been forgotten. The full family-tree photo settled it by showing the name where it had been covered.
There’s more warmth here than the phrase “pet tattoo” suggests. The dogs appear in the same family picture as the children and Anne-Marie. They’re alongside the people, not treated as a separate novelty.
It’s a very Ant detail: sentimental, a little chaotic, and impossible to explain without mentioning the dogs. The pieces make more sense together than in a quick list.
The harder years left a few quiet reminders
Some of Ant’s tattoos are linked to his recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. A small design near his wrist is often identified as the Alcoholics Anonymous symbol, although reports note that Ant hasn’t personally confirmed every detail of that interpretation. Small stars and other marks appear around his arms, along with the letters “S&H”, which coverage has connected to his sobriety story.
A little caution matters here. The recovery context is well documented, but Ant hasn’t captioned every shape himself. Some meanings come from people interpreting photos, and those should stay labelled as interpretations.
The placement makes sense, though. Wrist tattoos are hard to ignore and easy to see during everyday routines, so they can work as personal reminders. The family pieces look outward to the people Ant loves; the recovery-related marks may serve as quieter notes to himself.
Some pieces stay in the background
Alongside the main designs, Ant has smaller tattoos and lettering that don’t always come with an explanation. Some show only when his sleeves are pushed up; others are easy to miss in TV footage. They may matter, but a careful inventory still separates clear details from guesses.
His collection includes small stars, stacked lettering, geometric marks, and a circular wrist symbol linked to recovery. Public coverage describes the rose, arrow, family tree, dog tattoos, and Lennon tribute most clearly. Other marks add texture without a confirmed story attached to them.
That incomplete record is one reason celebrity tattoo lists can be tricky. A photo may show a shape, but only the wearer can explain why it’s there. Not every line needs a made-up meaning. Sometimes Ant simply hasn’t said.
The collection keeps its own balance
Taken together, the tattoos are less about one style than about the people and ideas Ant carries with him. The family tree and dog designs keep home life visible. Anne-Marie’s nickname and the heart initial mark his marriage. The Lennon piece connects him to music, while the rose and arrow add simpler designs with personal weight.
Recovery is another thread, expressed through small marks rather than one large statement. That seems fitting for someone who has spoken about difficult years and moving forward. These tattoos can be reminders, tributes, and parts of his visual identity at once.
There’s no need to pretend the collection was planned as one grand sleeve. The tattoos arrived at different times, for different reasons, and with different amounts of explanation. That’s what makes the collection feel human: a family tree, a Lennon tribute, his wife’s nickname, beloved dogs, and a few symbols whose full stories remain his own.
Watch the tattoo story on video