Relationships may come and go, but tattoos are forever—well, sometime they are.
Nothing says you are committed to your romantic partner like getting their name inked on your body. And nada proves your romance is so over like covering up or completely removing the tribute after breaking up, which is something stars like Kaley Cuoco, Ariana Grande and Nick Cannon have had to do.
But not every celeb has decided to erase any trace of their exes: Harry Styles was recently photographed with a previously unseen "Olivia" tattoo, which could be a reference to his former girlfriend, Olivia Wilde. And, unlike a vow renewal on any Real Housewives series, matching tattoos don't always spell doom for a famous couple—just ask Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck and Taylor Lautner and wife Tay Lautner as both pairs sport ink in honor of their respective wedding dates.
Plus, one celeb has 70 tattoos in honor of his wife. Come on, who really needs flowers when your face is literally tattooed on your husband's arm?
So, prepare to face your fear of needles as we uncover all of these tattoos stars got in honor of their current and former lovers:
While on a boat trip with friends in Bolsena, Italy July 28, the "Watermelon Sugar" singer was photographed for the first time sporting a thigh tattoo that appears to read, "Olivia," which could be in reference to Olivia Wilde, his former girlfriend of two years. But his "Don't Worry, Darling" director isn't the only one the ink could be in reference to as Styles co-wrote the One Direction song "Olivia."
E! News reached out to the pop star's rep for comment about his tattoo and has not heard back.
Now this is committment.
Lopez debuted the matching tattoos she and husband Ben Affleck got in honor of their romance in a Valentine's Day Instagram post last year. Her ink features an arrow piercing an infinity sign made up of their names, while Affleck's design includes arrows with the couple's first initials.
"Commitment," Lopez captioned photos of the tattoos. "Happy Valentine's Day my love #CommitmentIsSexy."
The Twilight alum and his wife, also named Taylor Lautner, got twin tattoos in honor of their marriage.
As seen in a video posted on Instagram last March, the two Taylors showed off their matching body ink: Their wedding date on their forearms.
"Best birthday surprise ever," she captioned the clip, which showed the pair flashing a "11.11.22" design tattooed near their wrists. She jokingly added on her Instagram Story, "As if having matching names wasn't enough..."
After her whirlwind engagement and subsequent marriage to former tennis star Ryan Sweeting fell apart in 2015, The Big Bang Theory actress found herself at a tattoo parlor trying to "right her wrongs" by removing the wedding date tattoo from her back.
Cuoco took to Instagram to post a picture of the removal and to share words of wisdom with her followers: "Note to self- do not mark your body with any future wedding dates #under30mistakes#donttakeyourselftooseriouslykids."
A year prior to their lavish April 2022 wedding, the model had her then-fiancé's name "Brooklyn" written in delicate script on her back. But her tribute pales in comparison to Brooklyn's collection of 70 tattoos dedicated to his wife, including her portrait on his upper arm.
The Working Girl got a tattoo of then-husband Antonio Banderas' name on the inside of a heart on her right arm in the 1990s. But after their split in 2015, Griffith erased all signs of the ink.
The musician debuted an NSFW tribute to his wife Hilary Duff in a September 2020 Instagram post, showing off her name in cursive on his butt cheek.
During his nine-month romance with Kim Kardashian, the Saturday Night Live alum added several tattoos dedicated to the SKIMS founder to his already robust collection. In addition to the phrase "My Girl Is A Lawyer" on his neck and the names "Jasmine" and "Aladdin" with an infinity sign in the middle in reference to the couple's first kiss during an Aladdin-themed skit on SNL, Davidson also inked the first initials of her four children with Kanye West on his body.
After their breakup in August 2022, Davidson reportedly began covering the body art, including "KIM" from his chest, which The Kardashians star had previously described as a branding.
"He was like, 'I want something that's there that I can't get rid of,'" Kardashian said during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in April 2022. "He's in the process of getting rid of his arm tats and neck tats. 'I don't want to be able to get rid of it or cover it up and I just wanted it, like there, as a scar on me.'"
This isn't the first time Davidson has erased traces of a former girlfriend from his body: He covered up his tattoo of ex Cazzie David after he began dating Ariana Grande in 2018. Which, speaking of...
During her whirlwind romance and engagement to Davidson, Grande got several matching tattoos with the comedian, all of which she said "thank u next" to after their breakup in October 2018.
The "No Tears Left to Cry" singer has covered up their "Reborn" ink with a feather and replaced the "Pete" tattoo on her left ring finger with a black heart. Finally, Grande tattooed the name of her late boyfriend Mac Miller's dog "Myron" over Davidson's firefighter father's badge number on her foot.
In one of Hollywood's most infamous cases of tattoo changes, The Pirates of the Caribbean star covered up his "Winona Forever" with "Wino Forever" after he and Winona Ryder broke up in 1993.
The Selling Sunset star caused a bit of a social media storm in 2021 when she showed off a tattoo she got in honor of her now-husband Tarek El Moussa: "Yes sir, Mr. El Moussa" was inked on her hip.
"I did it as something special for my fiancé, my future husband," the real estate agent explained to E! News following the controversy. "I will be Mrs. El Moussa, so this is my name. And it is a special thing that we do around the house: Daddy is the boss, I'm the queen of the house. We do it with the kids."
Back in 2013, the former One Direction member inked a potrait of his then-girlfriend Perrie Edwards on his arm. But after their break up, Malik headed in the direction of a tattoo parlor to turn the picture of the Little Mix singer into a drawing of a UFO alongside the night sky.
But the "Pillow Talk" artist wasn't done getting ink inspired by his love life, infamously adding former girlfriend Gigi Hadid's eyes to his chest before their split in 2021.
The supermodel had her then-husband Seal's name inked on her right forearm to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary in 2008. But after the couple called it quits four years later, Klum said "auf wiedersehen" to the love mark.
During her marriage to Billy Bob Thornton, Jolie had the actor's name inked on her left arm. After their split in 2003, she went on to cover the tribute with the coordinates of her six children's birthplaces.
Following her 2017 split from Tyga, The Kardashians star transformed the cursive "T" tattoo she had in tribute to the rapper to read "LA."
Cannon had Mariah Carey's name inked on his back during their eight-year marriage. But fans knew "It's A Wrap" when he covered the Grammy winner's moniker with a giant crucifix just months after their October 2014 split.
Following her 2010 divorce from basketball player Tony Parker, the Desperate Housewives star had not one, not two, but three tribute tattoos removed: Longoria had her former husband's jersey number on the back of her neck, their wedding date on her wrist and his initials hidden somewhere on her body.