Ryan Ashley Malarkey Feels Like ‘Cinderella’ After ‘Ink Master’ Win, She Says On Instagram

Ryan Ashley Malarkey, the winner of “Ink Master” Season 8, felt like a Disney princess after she won the coveted title last week. The tattoo artist took to Instagram, her preferred social network, to share her latest update.

“Oh hey, it's just me, Cinderella. Thank you sincerely to all of the special people who helped me achieve this moment,” she wrote Sunday, adding: “And a special thank you to @emilfeist for this gorgeous fairytale hair.”

The post was liked more than 35,000 times by Malarkey’s 442,000 followers. Malarkey used a picture from the finale that featured judges Oliver Peck, Dave Navarro and Chris Núñez.

The tattoo artist’s new Instagram update was the first time she embraced her win from last week. Before that, she said it was “bittersweet.” That’s because her beloved dog, 16-year-old Casper, died the same day she became “Ink Master” at the live finale in New York City.

Malarkey, 29, wrote in length about her pet. “I got the news only 10 minutes after my big winning moment, as we were all still on the stage right after the cameras stopped rolling. My world stopped,” she wrote about the blind black Pomeranian Thursday. “Tuesday was both the absolute best, and absolute worst nights of my life. All of you who knew Casper understand how truly special he was, not only to me, but how truly loving, forgiving, and resilient his soul was, and how happy he made every person who was lucky enough to love him.”

Aside from being the first woman to win “Ink Master,” Malarkey also won $100,000 cash money, a 2016 Dodge Charger and a feature in “Ink Magazine.”

By Monday, an air date for Season 9 of “Ink Master” was not known. Those who want to be tattooed by Malarkey can email her at RyanAshleyTattoo@gmail.com.

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