Image caption David Dimbleby said the experience was "not painful at all"

Veteran TV broadcaster David Dimbleby has revealed he has got his first tattoo - a scorpion on his shoulder.

In a Radio Times interview, the 75-year-old Question Time host said: "You are only old once. I have always wanted a tattoo.

"I thought I might as well have it done now. It's a dream come true for me," he added.

Dimbleby got the tattoo while making the maritime series, Britain and the Sea, to be shown on BBC One on Sunday.

During filming, Dimbleby was given the chance to have a tattoo of his own while looking into how body art was introduced to the UK as a result of Captain Cook's South Sea adventures.

He turned down the offer and had a black pencil mark put on his body, but changed his mind when he saw a preview of the film.

"I thought it was wimpish having it just drawn on and I needed to man up," he said.

Churchill's tattoo

Image caption The tattoo was done during the filming of Britain and the Sea

Dimbleby, who has been the BBC's main presenter of election coverage since 1979, was then accompanied to an east London tattoo studio by a cameraman.

"It took about 30 minutes - an hour in all - and I thought of Winston Churchill having his done while mine was being done. It wasn't painful at all, it just zings a bit."

The tattoo, on his right shoulder, was discreet, modest and represented his star sign, Scorpio, he said.

Of singer Cheryl Cole, who has roses tattooed all over her bottom, he said: "I wasn't tempted to have any private parts decorated, I have to tell you."

His wife, Belinda, was, he added, "mildly amused" by it but might be persuaded to have one of her own.

Britain and the Sea, made in partnership with the National Maritime Museum, starts on Sunday 17 November at 21:00 GMT on BBC One.