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INK OUTSIDE THE BOX

Drew Barrymore Got Matching Tattoos With a Boy Band Member

The 51-year-old said her new ink was life-changing.

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

PublishedApr 24, 2026, 1:45 PM EDT

UpdatedApr 24, 2026, 1:45 PM EDT

Updated Apr 24, 2026, 1:45 PM EDTPublished Apr 24, 2026, 1:45 PM EDT

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Drew Barrymore got matching tattoos with an ex-boy band member.

The TV host and former child star invited singer Zayn Malik, a member of the on-hiatus British boy band One Direction, to get tattoos with her in a segment of the April 23 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show.

“So we are both tattoo lovers,” Barrymore, 51, said after the two sat down on their tattoo chairs in front of a live audience.

Malik has over 60 tattoos, including several large-scale pieces that cover his legs, arms, torso, and head. Barrymore, by contrast, has a smattering of individual tattoos on her toes, ankles, back, and arms.

For the show, Barrymore and Malik planned to get matching tattoo designs inspired by one another.

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“I started studying what your name means, and one of the words that it means is ‘grace,’” Barrymore explained, referring to the Arabic meaning of the name Zayn.

She added, “It’s one of the tattoos I’ve always wanted because it’s the thing I’ve got to start giving myself in a different way.”

Before offering her inner wrist to her tattoo artist JonBoy, Barrymore told Malik, “So, in honor of putting your name on my body in the form of grace, I think, is going to change my life for the better. It’s something I really need.”

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Malik, on the other hand, chose to tattoo Barrymore’s name on his forearm in Arabic.

“I’m so honored!” Barrymore exclaimed. “I’m like, I’m so excited,” she said, hugging Malik.

Malik’s tattoo artist was Sara Kori, who also inked Barrymore’s latest tattoo, “222” on her outer wrist.

“I’m very grateful because I hope that if and when you ever look at it, that we can both just step back and maybe believe in the fact that we’re trying so hard and giving so much, and where and when is it acceptable and necessary to put ourselves in the mix of all the priorities and care and all of that,” Barrymore said.

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Once the tattoos were done, Barrymore was pleased with her new cursive “grace” tattoo that was placed just above her previous “breathe” tattoo.

“It’s so perfect,” she said, also complimenting Malik’s new ink as “so beautiful.”

Barrymore previously got a tattoo on her CBS talk show. In a May 2021 episode, she inked a design in honor of her daughters, Olive and Frankie, that reads, “Home is where we are.”

Two years later, in a November 2023 episode, she got the words “I am human.”

At the time, she had 11 tattoos, though she admitted to only liking nine of them.

“I’ve been getting tattoos at different times of my life, ever since I was 13 years old,” Barrymore shared. “I think I’ll be getting tattoos for the rest of my life.”

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In a March 2025 episode, Barrymore also got tattoos with her friend, Today show host Savannah Guthrie.

Guthrie had two hearts drawn by her children on her wrist, while Barrymore had a tattoo that simply read “time.”

Roosa RahkonenReporter, The Looker

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