Key Takeaways
- Sarper Guven wants to remove the red lips tattoo modeled after estranged wife Shekinah Garner, saying he would ideally like “a clean neck again” as they head toward divorce.
- The 90 Day Fiancé star plans to consult specialists about removing the red ink but may consider a cover-up, while insisting the tattoo represented genuine love when he got it.
- After publicly declaring himself single, Sarper has focused on stand-up comedy and reportedly filmed 90 Day: The Single Life, while Shekinah filed for divorce over irreconcilable differences.
Sarper Guven is ready to move on from Shekinah Garner. His neck just hasn't gotten the memo yet.
The 90 Day Fiancé star says the giant red lips tattoo modeled after his estranged wife is still very much there, even as their marriage heads toward divorce. But Sarper now knows what he wants next: a clean slate—and, ideally, a clean neck.
“Ideally, I would like to have a clean neck again,” Sarper told Inked. “Not because I want to erase my memories. Memories can stay in my mind.”
That is a very different place from where Sarper was when he got the tattoo.
“At that time, I was in love, and I wanted to do something very special and permanent,” he said. “I chose my neck because it was visible. I didn’t want to hide it. I wanted everybody to see my commitment.”
Sarper even picked red for maximum symbolism. “Lips are red, love is red, passion is red,” he said.
Then came the line that probably writes itself now: “Unfortunately, nobody told me red is also the color of warning signs!”
The tattoo has become one of the most obvious leftovers from a marriage that has been falling apart in public for months.
After 90 Day: The Last Resort showed Sarper and Shekinah recommitting to each other, Shekinah later torched that moment on Instagram, accusing Sarper of doing it out of “pity” while already planning to leave her. She also claimed The Last Resort was “a promo for your comedy career, not an attempt to save our marriage.”
Sarper pushed back on that accusation and denied choosing fame or money over Shekinah. But whatever hope remained didn't last.
He later publicly declared himself “SINGLE,” while Shekinah fired back that she still considered herself married because, legally, she was. Days later, she filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.
Now Sarper is left with a breakup souvenir that is hard to miss.
“It’s a strange feeling,” he said. “Sometimes I forget it’s there, but then I look in the mirror and boom! My past is saying good morning to me!”
He still isn't trashing what the tattoo once represented.
“At that time it was a symbol of my love,” Sarper said. “It was real for me, and I don’t want to disrespect my feelings from that period.”
The problem is figuring out what to do with it now.
Sarper said Shekinah previously told him during the Last Resort Tell-All that red ink couldn't be removed. He now wants to look into whether newer tattoo-removal technology could handle it.
“I know tattoo removal technology has improved, and red ink can sometimes be treated too,” he said. “But I need to research it properly and speak with specialists.”
A cover-up is another possibility, although Sarper clearly doesn't want to turn one impulsive tattoo decision into another.
“Imagine I try to cover it and end up with a giant dragon on my neck,” he joked. “Then next year we will have another interview about why I have a dragon!”
Meanwhile, Sarper's post-Shekinah life keeps moving.
But Sarper's takeaway from the tattoo fiasco is pretty simple: “Permanent decisions and temporary emotions are not always a good combination.”
