Mo Heart, formerly Monique Heart, is the stage name of Kevin Leandrew Richardson (born May 22, 1986), an American

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses Drag (entertainment), drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate Femininity, female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have ...

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

personality, and recording artist best known for competing on the tenth season of ''

RuPaul's Drag Race ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' is an American reality competition television series, the first in the Drag Race (franchise), ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by World of Wonder (company), World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, ...

'' (2018), the fourth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' (2018–2019), and the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'' (2022). Since first appearing on ''Drag Race'' in 2018, Mo Heart has appeared in a number of web series produced by World of Wonder, including a starring role in ''Manic Moments With Monique Heart'', and hosted her own podcast, ''Ace of Hearts with Monique Heart''. In January 2019, she released her debut single "Brown Cow Stunning", and later released her debut

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

''Beloved SoS 6.3'' in 2020.

Early life

Richardson was born on May 22, 1986, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

, New York. He spent time in areas in Long Island which includes

Roosevelt, New York Roosevelt (historically known as Greenwich and Rum Point) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Hempstead, New York, Town of Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), ...

and

Freeport, New York Freeport is a Political subdivisions of New York State#Village, village in the town of Hempstead, New York, Hempstead, in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island, in New York (state), ...

. He also stayed in Bedford-Stuyvesant with his father when he was growing up. Richardson was often teased at school for being different. He moved to

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

in 2000 before moving to

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

after graduating from high school and studied the Bible at the International House of Prayer University in Grandview, where he experienced

conversion therapy Conversion therapy is the pseudoscientific practice of attempting to change an individual's sexual orientation, romantic orientation, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. Methods that have ...

Career

Monique Heart at DragCon 2018 by dvsross

Richardson's original drag name was Monique Kutabetch Heart and later changed to Monique Heart. Some other rejected drag names were Ariana Styles, Nevah, Jiz Zonra, and Kisha Amillion. He created "Monique Heart" in 2011, and began a career as a

at Hamburger Mary's, emceeing bingo and hosting Sunday drag brunch. Mo Heart first auditioned for the eighth season of ''

'' but was unsuccessful. Two years later, she would audition for the tenth season of ''

'' and this time succeeded in qualifying to be a contestant. Before being accepted on the season, Mo Heart was ready to quit drag, but decided to continue. She placed eighth overall, after losing a lip sync to " Cut to the Feeling" by

Carly Rae Jepsen Carly Rae Jepsen (born November 21, 1985) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. After studying musical theatre for most of her school life and while in university, Jepsen garnered mainstream attention after placing third on the fifth season of ...

against The Vixen. Mo Heart was confirmed to be one of the contestants competing in the fourth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' on November 9, 2018. After not winning any challenges in her original season, Mo Heart won three main challenges during ''All Stars'', eventually reaching Top 4. She was a runner-up alongside

Naomi Smalls Naomi Smalls is the stage name of Davis M. Heppenstall (born September 8, 1993), an American drag queen and reality television personality, best known as one of the runners-up on the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 8), eighth season of ''RuPaul's Drag ...

, finishing in joint 3rd/4th place to

Monét X Change Monét X Change (born February 19, 1990) is the stage name of Kevin Akeem Bertin, an American and Saint Lucian drag queen, singer, podcaster, and reality television personality. She is known for competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag R ...

and

Trinity the Tuck Ryan A. Taylor, known professionally as Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor or just Trinity the Tuck (born December 10, 1984),Taylor in is an American drag queen, television personality, and recording artist best known for having competed on the ninth se ...

. Mo Heart's catchphrases on the show were quoted by

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (born October 13, 1989), also known as AOC, is an American politician and activist who has served since 2019 as the United States House of Representatives, US representative for New York's 14th congressional distric ...

, and

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo (), is an American singer and rapper. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas, with her family at the age of ten. After college, she moved to Minn ...

. Mo Heart was announced as part of the cast for the first season of ''

RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race ''RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race'' (often abbreviated as RSCDR) is an American reality competition series that premiered April 24, 2020 on VH1. A spin-off of the television series, celebrities competing for their chosen charity, mentored by ...

'', a Drag Race spin-off where ''Drag Race'' alumni transform celebrities into drag queens. On March 5 and 6, Mo Heart performed alongside fellow drag race alumni

Bebe Zahara Benet Nea Marshall Kudi Ngwa (born March 20, 1981), better known by his stage name BeBe Zahara Benet, is a Cameroonian-American drag queen, drag performer, television personality, and musician best known for winning the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 1), fi ...

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher Delmar Caldwell (born June 22, 1986), also known by his stage name Caldwell Tidicue and better known by his drag name Bob the Drag Queen, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, author, and reality television ...

, The Vixen,

Peppermint Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a Hybrid (biology), hybrid species of Mentha, mint, a cross between Mentha aquatica, watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in m ...

, and

Shea Couleé Jaren Kyei Merrell (born February 8, 1989), known professionally as Shea Couleé, is an American drag queen, singer, rapper, actor, podcaster, and fixture of the Chicago nightlife scene. Born in Warsaw, Indiana, they began their drag career in 2 ...

in the ''Nubia'' Tour, a live drag show featuring and produced by Black drag queens. In August, Mo Heart will start in her very own World of Wonder Presents

web series A web series (also known as webseries, short-form series, and web show) is a series of short scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet (i.e. World Wide Web), which first emerged in the late 1 ...

called ''Manic Moments with Monique Heart''. In June 2021, Mo Heart was a featured performer for the second annual ''It Gets Better: A Digital Pride Experience''. She hosted her own podcast, ''Ace of Hearts with Monique Heart''. Mo Heart hosted the

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...

original fashion-themed TV series, ''The Walk In'', where she interviewed celebrities as they show off some of their iconic fashion moments throughout their careers. Featured guests included

Lil Nas X Montero Lamar Hill (born April 9, 1999), better known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his 2018 country rap single "Old Town Road," the longest-running nu ...

Rico Nasty Maria-Cecilia Simone Kelly (born May 7, 1997), known professionally as Rico Nasty, is an American rapper from Prince George's County, Maryland. She began Self-publishing, self-releasing while in high school, and had released five solo mixtapes by ...

, and Jax. Mo Heart owns her own beauty company, MoBeauty. In January 2022, Mo Heart was announced as one of the nine contestants on the

of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs. the World'', now going by her new name. Regarding the name change, she said: In the penultimate episode, Mo Heart placed in the Top 2, and lip-synced to "

Toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

" by

Netta ''Netta'' is a genus of diving ducks. The name is derived from Greek ''Netta'' "duck". Unlike other diving ducks, the ''Netta'' species are reluctant to dive, and feed more like dabbling ducks. These are gregarious ducks, mainly found on fresh ...

, but lost to Jujubee. Mo Heart went onto compete in the Top 4 finale, and placed second to

Blu Hydrangea Blu Hydrangea (born 15 February 1996) is the stage name of Joshua Cargill, a People of Northern Ireland, Northern Irish drag queen from Belfast who competed the RuPaul's Drag Race UK series 1, first series of ''RuPaul's Drag Race UK'' in 2019, a ...

Music

Mo Heart performed her debut single "Brown Cow Stunning" on the premiere episode of ''RuPaul's Drag Race: All-Stars,'' and was released on January 4, 2019. A music video for the song was released the same day. Mo Heart appeared in the music video for "Soak It Up" by fellow Season 10 contestant

and

season 8 A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and polar ...

winner

. On September 4, Mo Heart released another single, "SUKM (Kiss Me)", as well as an accompanying lyric video, the debut single for her EP, ''Beloved SoS 6.3'', which was released in 2020.

Personal life

Richardson first realized he was gay at the age of 17 while working a shift at

Burger King Burger King Corporation (BK, stylized in all caps) is an American multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacks ...

. He is a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

. In 2019, he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and as of 2021, currently resides in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

Discography

EPs

Singles

As lead artist

Featured singles

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Web series

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heart, Monique 1986 births People with vitiligo Living people 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American Christians African-American drag queens American drag queens American gay entertainers Gay Christians LGBTQ people from Missouri LGBTQ people from New York (state) Entertainers from Brooklyn Entertainers from Kansas City, Missouri People from Long Island Monique Heart Drag performers from New York (state) Drag performers from Virginia Drag performers from Missouri