Meredith Gaudreau Details ‘Special’ Meanings Behind Her Tattoos Dedicated to Late Husband Johnny Gaudreau (Exclusive)
Meredith Gaudreau Details ‘Special’ Meanings Behind Her Tattoos Dedicated to Late Husband Johnny Gaudreau (Exclusive)
Julie MazziottaSat, August 29, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC
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Meredith Gaudreau shows her tattoo of Johnny Gaudreau’s signatureCredit: Christaan Felber -
Meredith Gaudreau shares the meanings of her tattoos, all of which she got after the deaths of her husband, Johnny, and his younger brother, Matthew
“I never had tattoos before, so sometimes I catch myself off guard,” Meredith tells PEOPLE
Meredith also honors Matthew with a tattoo of his nickname
For most of her life, Meredith Gaudreau had been tattoo-free. But after the deaths of her husband, Johnny Gaudreau, and his younger brother, Matthew, the inscriptions that now line her arms became a way to remember them forever.
“I never had tattoos before, so sometimes I catch myself off guard,” Meredith, 34, tells PEOPLE of the moments she glances at her newly inked arms.
Meredith — who wed NHL star Johnny in 2021 and then welcomed their three children “back-to-back-to-back” over the next four years, with their youngest son, Carter, arriving seven months after Johnny’s death — wanted to honor both her husband and Matthew with her tattoos.
A few months after the brothers’ deaths on Aug. 29, 2024, Meredith got her first one: Johnny’s signature.
“I have John’s autograph tattooed right here,” she says, pointing to her right forearm. “He actually wrote it out just for me one day when I needed it for a playoff jacket. I said, ‘Can you write down your autograph for me?’ And I kept a picture of that too. So when I wanted to get this tattoo, that is the one that I used because he wrote this specifically for me.”
On her opposite forearm, Meredith then had the names of their first two kids, Noa Harper, 3, and Johnny Edward, 2, written in script — with added meaning.
“I was able to do a cremation tattoo, where they use some of John’s ashes with the ink. So it just feels special to me,” she explains. After their third son’s arrival in April 2025, Meredith had his name, Carter Michael, added, again using her husband’s ashes.
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Meredith Gaudreau shows her tattoo of her three kids’ names, inked using Johnny’s ashesCredit: Christaan Felber
On her right bicep, Meredith dedicated a tattoo for her brother-in-law, Matthew. It simply says his nickname, “Matty.”
“He’s very important to me also, and it’s another part of this whole journey,” she explains. “Sometimes, I obviously find myself really engulfed with my grief for John, but I miss him a lot too, and he was a really special uncle for my kids. He’s Noa’s godfather and they spent a lot of little moments together. So I always want to make sure that everything I do honors the both of them.”
Meredith also had the word “forever” tattooed on her ring finger, but it wore off. She replaced it with “JM” — for Johnny and Meredith.
Meredith Gaudreau displays her tattoo of her and Johnny’s wedding date, along with their vowsCredit: Christaan Felber
Her last tattoo — on her left bicep — celebrates her union with Johnny. At the top, Meredith has their wedding date, Sept. 3, 2021, in Roman numerals, and below that, a part of their vows.
“It says, ‘All the days of my life,’ which was our vows,” Meredith says.
“I thought it was nice knowing we didn’t say till death do us part.”
To watch the full video, visit the PEOPLE App. For more from Meredith Gaudreau, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE on stands Friday.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
