Watch CBS News

Charmaine Walker On VH1's 'Black Ink Crew: Chicago': 'Things Have Changed Drastically With Tattooing'

(CBS Local)-- Charmaine Walker has been a mainstay on VH1 for years as one of the members of "Black Ink Crew: Chicago" and the actor, radio host and entrepreneur is back with shows you do not want to miss. Part one of "Black Ink Crew: Secrets Unlocked" aired on Monday and part two airs Monday, March 29 at 9pm EST/PST on VH1.

The special celebrates nearly a decade of the Black Ink franchise and features your favorite personalities from New York, Chicago and Compton. Walker will also be appearing in "Blank Ink Crew: Chicago Confessions" on Monday, April 12 at 9pm EST/PST. Charmaine hasn't been on TV for a year because of the pandemic, so she is excited to be front of mind for her fans again.

"We are coming back on your television screens and it's about to go down," said Walker, in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "It's called Secrets Unlocked for a reason because we are unlocking all the Blank Ink secrets. I'm really excited to get back out there and give more content to our viewers and I'm ready to connect with everybody again."

Walker was working at Groupon prior to becoming a TV star and she would go to 9 Mag Tattoo in Chiago right after work and hang out out with Ryan Henry and the rest of the crew.

"We turned up really crazy for two years straight," said Walker. "Next thing you know, Black Ink was reaching out asking if they can film a pilot and we got the show. It's just been crazy ever since. Now we are going to be filming our seventh season and it's a huge blessing. The fact that we're all still here is awesome. The growth of the industry has been tremendous. Tattooing not that long ago would be something that you would get done in someone's basement. Now for instance, my shop Second City Ink, I have to make sure I'm up to date with the city. Things have changed drastically with tattooing."

Watch all of DJ Sixsmith's interviews from "The Sit-Down" series here.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.