Frequent Ryanair flyer turns heartbreak into comedy with ingenious tattoo fix
Katie Allan inked her then boyfriend's name on her right hip but, as she split with him eight months later, the barmaid, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, faced a dilemma
A barmaid found a novel way to fix her heartbreak after splitting with her boyfriend whose first name she'd had tattooed on her hip.
Katie Allan, 22, transformed the inking of "Ryan" to that of her favourite airline - "Ryanair" - to turn her heartbreak into comedy, and is now able to show her tattoo without any upsetting memories. She had "Ryan" inked on her hip after he bet her she wouldn't do it in November last year but the couple split eight months later.
But having used Ryanair for all of her holidays, including breaks to Ibiza, Katie soon decided to celebrate her favourite airline by adding "air" to the end of the inking. Now, the young barmaid, from Macclesfield, Cheshire, is the proud owner of a three-inch "Ryanair" tattoo.
The same tattoo artist Katie used in November added the extra detail free of charge after learning of the woman's relationship woe. Katie, who paid £25 originally to win her wager, said: "Me and the girls were thinking of cover ups and then we thought, 'what if we didn't even cover it, what if we added 'air' to it and turned it into Ryanair?'
"We were thinking of anything we could turn Ryan into. Literally anything. We had Rylan, Ryanair, we had all sorts. As soon as me and him broke up I booked a flight with Ryanair so it just made sense. It wasn't heartbreaking having to get it covered up, I felt fine doing it.
"I got it done because of a bet anyway so I just needed to prove that I would do it. I'm too stubborn to not do it. I don't feel like I'm owed free flights for life, maybe just a cheeky holiday to Ibiza. I was a big fan of them before, I've always flown with Ryanair."
A video of Katie getting her tattoo fixed has been viewed more than 715,000 times by TikTok users. Katie continued: "We thought some people would find it funny but we didn't expect it to go viral.
"Everyone is just asking for other ideas for different names to be covered and then there's loads of Ryans in the comment section as well.
"I've had loads of people say it's stupid and all sorts. I'm like, 'it's not stupid, it's funny'. I'm not bothered at all. I think it's hilarious. I love it. It's my new favourite tattoo now I love it.
"She [the tattoo artist] found it hilarious. She loves it because she was the one that actually tattooed his name in the first place and was trying to tell me not to do it.
"I was like, 'no it's fine, it's funny' and then as soon as we split up I was like, 'erm, so… I 100% hate that name now. I'd never get with a Ryan again."
One TikTok user wrote: "Could be worse, could be something more permanent like a kid." Another commented: "Could have just started dating Ryans…" A third wrote: "Genius." A fourth commented: "@Ryanair girl deserves a cheeky free flight for that."