Tattooed north Derbyshire bar manager competing to be magazine cover girl was victim of hate crimes in younger years

Molly Jarvis, whose parents run the Three Merry Lads at Cutthorpe, has spent more than £3,000 on tattoos which she says have changed her life.

Now she is among contenders in Inked Magazine’s contest where the winner will walk off with 25,000 dollars in prize money, a professional photoshoot and a session with a leading female tattoo artist.

Molly, 20, said: “I’m not fussed about the money – it’s about showing body positivity, helping me become a model and stopping the stigma of tattoos on women.

"When I was younger I used to suffer with my mental health and the way I looked at my body – I never really loved myself. Growing up with social media, you’d look at other females and think they’re so pretty, why I aren’t I like them?

"I’ve always been into tattoos and two days after my 18th birthday I got my first one done. I got a snake tattooed on my back for my mum. When I was younger she used to sing the nursery rhyme ‘I draw a snake on the old man's back’ to me all the time. The tattoo took about five hours, it didn’t hurt – I just sat with a smile on my face for five hours thinking this is quite relaxing.

"The more tattoos I got the more I started loving myself and felt confident and comfortable in my own skin. I never used to wear a skirt and now I wear skirts and dresses all the time because I feel confident about showing my body off.

"I’ve always wanted to model and this year I came fourth in a Playboy competition.”

As a follower of goth fashion, Molly came up against prejudice when she was younger. She said: “I’ve suffered from hate crimes, people shouting at me in the street, throwing things at me and telling me that I should slit my wrists because of my appearance. Things like that do take a toll on you and it is hard.”

Molly has now grown accustomed to people staring at her and making comments about her tattoos. She said: “They used to say why have you got tattoos – it’s so uncouth. I’d say it’s not for you, it’s for me. As long as you feel comfortable and happy with yourself, it doesn’t matter what you look like.”

Her body is now inked with more than 30 designs, most of them created at Chesterfield’s Zero Tattoo by Mike Sklavenitis.

Molly’s favourite tattoo is an ouija board on her stomach. She said: “It’s quite a dark tattoo – a true statement piece that people are shocked to see. The ouija board is a form of communication to people who have passed away….people are quite scared of it.”

A robin tattooed on her arm is Molly’s tribute to her uncle and best friend Phil Jarvis, who died in his 60s five years ago. She was inspired by her gran’s saying about when a robin is near, a loved one is close by. Molly said: “When my uncle passed away, it affected me a lot. I saw a robin one day and it was following me down the pathway; every time I thought of Phil and got upset, I would see a robin. I believe when Phil passed away he became my robin, my guardian angel.”

Should Molly win the cover girl competition, she plans to donate some of her prize money to the charity Nenna Kind. Her uncle Phil raised money for the Chesterfield based organisation that transports patients for cancer treatment in Sheffield and Molly’s family has carried on the good work since his passing. Molly said: “Nenna Kind have a couple of buses that take people to Weston Park and brings them back free of charge. My family has helped fund that for many years, we got them the buses and on the back of them it says from the Jarvis family.” Much of the money for the buses was raised through auctions and other activities when Molly’s family ran the Holme Hall Inn in Chesterfield.

Molly said that she wouldn’t use any of the prize money for more tattoos, even though her aim is to cover 90 percent of her body with indelible artwork. She said: “I’ve got classic horror movies on one leg, a crescent moon on my face and a spider’s web in my ear. I don’t want anything on my hands or neck – I did promise my parents that I wouldn’t go overboard and do that.”

To vote for Molly to be Inked Magazine’s cover girl, go to https://cover.inkedmag.com/2023/molly-jarvis

There’s a free daily vote and any subsequent vote costs a dollar each, with proceeds going to MusiCares which provides services and resources for music professionals in times of need.