'It's overwhelming, but I'm happy': Sask. town supports woman competing in Inked Magazine's cover contest

A Saskatchewan small town is rallying around a woman competing in a world-wide competition to be the next cover model for Inked magazine.

Nicole Seidle has been getting tattoos every two months for the past 20 years.

"We started watching MTV and all the people with tattoos; I thought it was really neat. My mom made me promise that I’d wait until I was 18, so I did,” Nicole told CTV News in an interview.

Her hometown of Medstead, a small village about 217 kilometres northeast of Saskatoon, has thrown its support behind her.

"She really deserves to win this, she's going after one of her dreams, but she's also committed to the small community she's a part of,” Medstead resident Becky Anderson told CTV News.

Half of Nicole’s body is covered in about $30,000 worth of ink.

"She’s put a lot of time and effort into her tattoos, she's very passionate about it,” Nicole’s father Mervyn Seidle said.

Nicole has tattoos with her son’s handwriting. The words “I love mom” and “Magnus” can be seen on her collarbone. She dedicated one sleeve to her childhood favourite Dr. Seuss, and the other to her son, with a Super Mario Bros theme. She wears the artwork with pride.

"The tattoo industry has gone from being shamed to something everybody accepts,” she said.

The grand prize includes a two-day tattoo session with artist Ryan Ashley, a two-page spread in the magazine and US$25,000. Nicole said she would donate the prize money to the local ice rink and school playground.

"She's been a valuable asset to our business and our community," Medstead resident Ike Epp told CTV news.

Nicole is competing against thousands of contestants, organized into about 1,700 groups. Currently, she sits at second place in her group.

"They could be in huge centres, know all kinds of people and I'm in little Medstead with 150 people and I'm sitting at second, so it's overwhelming, but I'm happy,” Nicole said.

The public can place a daily vote on their favourite model.

You can learn more about the competition online.