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mark wahlberg and family the union premiere la© Getty Images

Mark Wahlberg reveals intimate tattoo dedicated to wife Rhea Durham

The Ted star got honest about his tattoos

Bryony Gooch
US Writer
August 14, 2024
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Mark Wahlberg may have once had a tough guy persona, with a number of tattoos, but after getting "eight or nine" removed, he now has only one - and it's got sentimental value.

Guest host Jeff Goldblum sits down with Mark Wahlberg© Randy Holmes
Guest host Jeff Goldblum sits down with Mark Wahlberg

He explained that his "only remaining" tattoo is his wife Rhea Durham's name on his ring finger, as he revealed the tattoo on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to guest host Jeff Goldblum. As the camera zoomed in on him, he told them: "That's my wife's name."

The reason the actor got a tattoo of his wife's name on his ring finger, he continued, was "in case I'm not wearing my ring or I'm working, I can always have [it]." Mark got the tattoo on Valentine's Day one year, and it certainly got quite the reaction from his wife.

Mark Wahlberg's only remaining tattoo © Screenshot from Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Mark Wahlberg's only remaining tattoo

"She said 'That's the nicest thing you've ever done,'" he told Jeff, to which he retorted: "Well can I have back the expensive jewelry and just get you one of these too?'" The joke provoked a laugh from the audience.

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Mark got all his other tattoos removed, describing the process as "terribly painful."

"They promise you that it's very quick, a couple of visits. It took me many years," he confessed. "I actually was trying to get them removed by the time I was gonna do The Fighter because every time I did a movie if I had to take my shirt off I had to cover it all with makeup. Agonizing experience. So I tried to get it done and it took me like five years to get them completely removed." 

Mark Wahlberg and wife Rhea Durham at the premiere of The Family Plan© Getty
Mark and Rhea married in 2009

He previously described the process as like "Hot bacon grease getting flicked on you over and over again," something many people might wince at the idea of. He previously had tattoos along: "My neck, my stomach, my arms, my back, my leg," and described the reason for getting them removed as a growth in "maturity" and "sensibility."

mark wahlberg and family the union premiere la© Getty Images
Mark relocated his family from LA to Las Vegas

His own experience moved him so much that he advised his notoriously tattooed friend Post Malone that he may one day regret the number of tattoos he's got: "I told Posty it's going to be a lot of Bud Lights trying to get those things off of you."

Mark's own son, Michael, recently revealed his own tattoo as the mark on his chest peaked beneath his shirt while he attended the premiere of his father's movie, The Union. Michael attended alongside his brother Brendan, and sisters Ella and Grace. Their mom Rhea was also in attendance, making for a family reunion.

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