The world’s most tattooed man has traded a life circus performing for machine operating at a construction site.
In a short film forGrounded, Lucky Diamond Rich, from Australia, talked about his journey and the challenges he’s faced along the way.
Lucky Diamond Rich, real name Gregory Paul McLaren, has done everything from performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and doing vocals in a music group to spending decades as a street performer and battling addiction.
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But now his every day is something more people might be able to relate with.
“I’m only just starting to connect with that stuff now,” he says, discussing how he’s “missed out” on a lot of what many would consider “normal.”
Rich has two complete layers of ink across every part of his body – including even his penis – which has seen him claim 200% of his body is tattooed.
And he also earned a name for himself performing wild tricks, like juggling machetes on a unicycle on stilts.
He’s thrown chainsaws around in the street in the name of entertainment and has spent more than 1,000 hours in the tattoo parlour.
But now he says his tattoos and “even Lucky Diamond Rich” don’t define his identity.
“My identity isn’t wrapped up in being the most tattooed man in the world – It’s not wrapped up in being Lucky Diamond Rich either,” he said.
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“I work on a construction site at the moment where I’m a machine operator.
“I just get in a machine, I go to work on time, I get there early, I do as I'm told, I get paid, I pay taxes, pay my bills.”
But his remarkably “normal” life doesn’t stop there, as he has built a home life filled with the everyday things many people take for granted.
He continued: “I’ve got my wife, I’ve got my two dogs – I’ve got a great job, I don’t really perform that much these days and I do the odd tattoo on mates and various friends that want to get tattoos.
“You know, I live a pretty normal life these days – that’s all I’ve ever really wanted.”
Happily, the 30-year street performing veteran added: “I never thought it would be possible, but it’s actually what’s happened.”
Talking about his life and the way he engaged with people and communities around him, he said these days his life has more balance.
“I’m connected to all different communities at the moment,” he continued.
“I’ve been a support worker in an aboriginal rehab in St Kilda [in Melbourne] called Galiamble [Men’s Recovery Centre]. That was really amazing for me to be able to help.”
In the past, he’s had his fingers in a lot of pies, but now he’s drilled down and found what he reckons is his place in the world.
“I’m definitely more connected than I ever have been – I spread myself out pretty thin for quite a while throughout my life, [now] I actually feel like I belong.
“Before I didn’t really feel like I did.”
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