Jesse Metcalfe has reportedly tattoed an image of his on/off girlfriend Nadine Coyle on his left arm so that he can remember his heartache over their break-up.

The Desperate Housewives star had the Girls Aloud singer inked on him, holding a bloody heart in the shape of her native Ireland.

Coyle broke up with Medcalfe after it was rumoured that he had been cheating on her, but he has recently been trying to win her back.

Speaking on US TV, he said: "It’s not that I’m not over the break-up, it’s just that I really wanted to remember what it felt like to be in that relationship so that I never really go there again. I went through a hard break-up.

“Every tattoo is a memory. It doesn’t mean you are staying in that moment or obsessing about it. I chose to get that tattoo, especially with the heart on the arm, because I chose to wear my heart on my sleeve.”