I was on Tattoo Fixers – my cringe cover-up was a disaster… I was scarred for life and spent thousands trying to sort it

WHEN Brix Schaumburg got in the Tattoo Fixers chair, he hoped to finally rid himself of a " really embarrassing” inking once and for all.

Little did the then 25-year-old know that he would end up spending thousands more pounds trying to fix the fix.

The transgender German actor wanted his pink butterfly tattoo, which he had at 18 while living as a woman, covered up.

He settled on a pirate ship sailing through stormy seas, to represent his own difficult journey, but after a gruelling nine-hour session problems began.

Since appearing in the first series, Brix, now 33, says his skin has been left "scarred" and "traumatised", while he has shelled out for laser tattoo removal and further cover-ups.

Speaking to The Sun, he explains his "regret" over trusting the show and reveals his "difficult" experience on Tattoo Fixers.

'Cringeworthy scenes'

For a pre-filmed segment, Brix was taken to a butterfly farm to talk about his tattoo and felt it was “cringe-worthy”.

He told The Sun: “It’s a TV show and so they want to sell the story but I had to go to a butterfly farm and talk about the butterfly tattoo.

“It felt like they were focussing more on the storytelling and the storyline.”

Brix explained that the butterfly tattoo, which he got at 18, was "me back then but it's not me anymore".

'Too big'

Brix says the experience, which was broadcast in 2015, was considerably different from any normal tattoo parlour.

He said: “I didn't even know who was doing the tattoo until filming. It was not like normal tattoo parlours where you discuss the design and they draw something with you.

“There was no time to have a proper think about it. There’s pressure and lots of people coming in and out.”

One of Brix’s biggest issues was the size of the design. The butterfly was on his upper arm, yet the cover-up stretched across his chest and shoulder.

He said: “It could have been so much easier if we didn’t go for a tattoo that size but also I didn’t speak up. I should never have had it done.

“I just asked myself, ‘What?’ The butterfly was on my upper arm. I wanted that covered up but it f***ed up my chest and shoulder. It was too big.”

'Nine excruciating hours'

Brix chose Sketch’s design and says the tattooing process happened over “an excruciating nine hours”.

By the end, he was freezing cold after sitting topless for so long in the warehouse studio.

“I had never used numbing spray before either but they used it a lot - definitely more than three times. It felt like they were spraying again and again and again,” Brix said.

“It took a very long time, I would have preferred more sessions but Sketch had to get it done and finished because they wanted to film it.

“My skin was very swollen after but initially, I was happy it was over. Freshly tattooed, it looked much better, but in time I had very big issues.”

'Unable to dress for a week'

It wasn’t long before Brix noticed problems with the tattoo including it “feeling very hot, remaining super swollen and scabbing”.

He says the Tattoo Fixers team took him to a dermatologist, who revealed his skin did not react well to certain colours.

Brix added: “There was lots of shading that didn’t really heal, it didn’t look like a proper tattoo and the scabbing was bad.”

He described how his chest was “really raw” and “in a bad condition”, which left him “unable to dress myself for a week”.

Brix said the team offered to work on the tattoo again, but claims they “struggled” to arrange a date.

‘Cover-up didn't hide the tattoo’

On top of the pain, Brix says the design “didn’t cover” his original tattoo and made matters worse.

He added: “It makes me very angry that I went through with it.

"I trusted them and what I don't really understand is why they made the decisions they did.

“They didn’t really cover the piece, they moved the design from my arm to my shoulder and chest area and then covered the original tattoo with shading.

“You can still see the last bit of the butterfly now, the colour fell out of the compass and it left my skin traumatised and scarred.”

'Fixing it cost thousands'

Brix initially feared the tattoo had “ruined” his acting career and it left him extremely self-conscious.

In 2018, he tried to hide the cover-up with laser tattoo removal, which cost €2,000 (£1,760) for eight sessions.

Later, Brix also had three tattoo sittings costing €1,050 (£925) to try to transform sections of the remaining cover-up into a koi and other designs.

He said: “We tried to make something that fitted on top of the cover-up and the butterfly, so we went for this black shading and then the green circle became a massive koi. 

“You can still see the scars today and I feel stupid for doing it because before going on the show I didn’t have a tattoo on my chest that ended up as a f***ed version of something."

Despite his struggles, Brix has gone on to have a successful career including appearing in Netflix shows, releasing music and modelling for designer brands.

Reflecting on the ordeal, Brix said: “It’s much better now than it was before but it took a lot of hard work to accept the tattoo.

"I’m more comfortable now and decided not to let my tattoo or scars define me.

“Am I angry and do I think it was stupid? Yes, I do but can I change it? No, I cannot.” 

The Sun contacted Studio Lambert, who made Tattoo Fixers, to put the claims to them but did not receive a response.