Ben Fogle reveals he's had his Everest tattoo removed

‘It wasn’t even the right height!’ Ben Fogle reveals he’s had his Everest tattoo removed after complaining it ‘looked like his PIN number’

Ben Fogle has revealed he’s had his Mount Everest tattoo removed after complaining it ‘looked like his PIN number.’

The presenter, 49, took to Instagram to share an image of his bare wrist, after originally getting the ink when he reached the summit in 2018.

Captioning the post, Ben complained his tattoo actually recorded the mountain’s incorrect height, and had been re-measured since he had it done.

He also moaned that having it removed took patience, before comparing it to the six-week climb to the top of the deadly mountain.

Ben famously summitted Mount Everest with former Olympic cyclist Victoria Pendleton in 2018, but she withdrew after suffering from severe altitude sickness.

Amusing! Ben Fogle has revealed he’s had his Mount Everest tattoo removed after complaining it ‘looked like his PIN number’ (pictured left with the tattoo and right after its removal)

It’s gone! Captioning the post, Ben complained his tattoo actually recorded the mountain’s incorrect height, and had been re-measured since he had it done

He undertook the vast challenge with the support of his good friend, Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein in memory of her father, and to raise awareness and money for The Red Cross.

In his post, Ben wrote: ‘Nothing has to last forever. I decided to get rid of my Everest tattoo. It took time. A looong time. Just like the climb. It took patience

‘And the realisation that we have the power to change the things we regret, the tattoo, not the climb.

‘The climb was life changing for me. A permanent memory, unlike the tattoo that looked like my PIN number

‘Not even the height of Everest, which has been recalculated from 8848m to 8848.8m, is permanent

‘Maybe I was never meant to have it? My tattoo of the wrong height has gone. Somewhere there is a metaphor but I’m just glad to have my wrist back. It only took minutes to get but took years to remove. Think before you ink.’

Last year, Ben travelled to war-torn Ukraine where he spent time delivering supplies to victims of the conflict.

The TV star posted a picture of himself skinny-dipping in the Pripyat river – which flows near Chernobyl – with his ‘Ukrainian friends’.

Taken off! He also moaned that having it removed took patience, before comparing it to the six-week climb to the top of the deadly mountain

Tough: Ben famously summitted Mount Everest to raise awareness and money for The British Red Cross

The Countryfile presenter described his visit to the country as ‘life-changing’, as he spent time ‘delivering cars and supplies to the resettlers within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone’ while on a ‘private mission’. 

The exclusion zone is an area around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that only scientists and government officials can access. 

Ben wrote: ‘Swimming with my Ukrainian friends in the Pripyat river next to the remains of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in a war zone is probably not where I should be. But I am.

‘It seems a fitting end to my weird, wild, wretched journey here. I came to help. To share. To learn. To love and to cry.’

‘I have been moved to tears by the kindness, the pride, the stoicism and the resolve of Ukrainians.’

He went on to say that his visit to the country reminded him to ‘value freedom and security’.

‘If there is one thing my Ukrainian friends have taught me, it’s to seize the moment and live every moment as if it’s your last. Love, peace and dodgy skinny dips.’

He finished: ‘P.S. it’s not actually that radioactive and it was a good way to wash after a week on the road.’

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