Entertainment

Why Matt's Hiding Part Of His Tattoo From The Cameras On 'BB19'

Sonja Flemming/CBS

What mysteries lie on Matt's arm? The body builder's arms are on prominent view on Big Brother 19, especially when wrapped around Raven — but one of his tattoos is partly obscured, on purpose. What could be on Matt's arm that he's constantly sporting a shoulder patch? Is it a brand logo? A swear word? A lewd image? What are Big Brother 19 houseguest Matt's tattoos, and why is one of them being covered up on the show?

Matt's left arm features a full sleeve in intricate detail. The complexity of the tattoo doesn't seem to be hiding anything that can't be shown, however, as his left arm is allowed to be freely displayed in the Big Brother house. The collection of trees and other forest imagery may be the more complex of his tattoos, but it's the words on his right arm that have been mysteriously covered up.

Matt's right arm seems to house a paragraph's worth of words, starting at the edge of his shoulder and coming down to just above his elbow. While it looks like he's putting a bandage over a curse word to censor it, the truth behind the censored tattoo is much more mundane. Matt's right arm is decorated with song lyrics, and the reason they have to be covered is likely a copyright issue.

Matt's right arm features the lyrics to the Boyz II Men song "A Song For Mama." Much like houseguest Jessica has a tattoo celebrating her father, Matt seems to have a tattoo in dedication of his mother. The tattoo itself reads:

"You taught me everything
Everything you've given me
I'll always keep it inside
You're the driving force in my life, yeah
There isn't anything
Or anyone that I could be
And it just wouldn't feel right
If I didn't have you by my side"

It's a touching tribute that seems a shame to cover up. Luckily, it seems that Matt doesn't have to cover up very much of it to skirt any infringement issues. Instead of having to wear massive bandages covering the full sleeve, Matt has just been putting small bandages on it to obscure a few words of the excerpt. It seems to be a pretty fair bargain to Matt, who is able to showcase most of his tattoo to the point where nearly anyone would understand the message he's trying to convey. CBS is probably able to avoid legal action, and Matt is still able to pay tribute to his mother.

Matt hasn't opened up much to the cameras during this season of Big Brother, mostly staying on the sidelines and putting his focus on his showmance with Raven. However, despite him not speaking up in the house much, his two sleeve tattoos allow viewers to get an idea of Matt's values. He seems to have an interest in connecting with the world and nature, and definitely loves his family.

I guess there's also a chance that Matt didn't get that tattoo for his mother, but because he is the world's biggest Boyz II Men fan. Either way, his tattoo isn't so much not-safe-for-TV as it is intellectual property.