Lea Michele Honors Cory Monteith With Another Tattoo

Lea Michele loves her tattoos, and it seems her latest body art is about honoring her loved ones. On Monday, Michele revealed a mug of coffee on her right ring finger to honor her grandmother, who died recently. During her trip to the Bronx-based Prospect Tattoos, Michele also got some new ink to pay tribute to Cory Monteith.

It isn’t clear exactly where it is located, but the actress revealed a small “5” tattoo Tuesday. “Glee” fans know that Monteith’s character Finn wore a football jersey with that number on the Fox musical comedy. Michele even took the character’s framed jersey home with her on the last day of filming.

Monteith died at age 31 shortly before the fifth season of “Glee,” and he and Michele were dating both on and off screen. The actor died of a toxic mix of heroin and alcohol in Vancouver on July 13, 2013.

Right after his death, Michele, who has several other tats, got her first tattoo for Monteith. She quoted their last conversation on her rib cage. “I love you more,” the top line says in blue ink. “If you say so,” is written underneath in black ink. The song also served as inspiration for Michele’s song “If You Say So” on her debut album, “Louder.”

While fans are thrilled to see Michele, 29, posting something in memory of the late actor, the “Scream Queens” actress admitted earlier this year that it’s difficult to post certain things about her personal life. Many fans aren’t thrilled that she is dating after Monteith’s death.

“I love my fans. They’re incredible and they were really a part of my whole story and my whole journey with me, so I do come from a place of understanding, but it’s also really hard,” she told the LadyGang podcast in January. “You know, every time I post a picture, then it’s just a landslide of comments that talk about my past and bring that up rather than projecting positivity.” Michele added that she stays upbeat by keeping a very small, tightknit group of friends around her.

Michele is currently single. She and Matthew Paetz, her first long term boyfriend after Monteith’s death, broke up in February.