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

drag queen A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses drag clothing and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes. Historically, drag queens have usually been gay men, and part of ...

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

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, produced by World of Wonder for Logo TV (season 1–8), WOW Presents Plus, VH1 (season 9–14) and, beginning with the f ...

'' (2018), the fourth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race: All Stars'' (2018–2019), and '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World'' (2022). Since first appearing on ''Drag Race'' in 2018, 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 record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

''Beloved SoS 6.3'' in 2020.

Early life

Heart was born on May 22, 1986, on Long Island, New York. Heart also spent time in areas in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, with his father when he was growing up. Heart was often teased at school for being different. Heart moved to Kansas City, Missouri 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, gender identity, or gender expression to align with heterosexual and cisgender norms. In contrast to evidence-based medicine and cl ...

Career

Monique Heart at DragCon 2018 by dvsross

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

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

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

'' and this time succeeded in qualifying to be a contestant. Before being accepted on the season, Heart was ready to quit drag, but decided to continue. Heart placed eighth overall, after losing a lip sync to " Cut to the Feeling" by Carly Rae Jepsen against The Vixen. 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, Heart won three main challenges during ''All Stars'', eventually reaching Top 4. She was a runner-up alongside Naomi Smalls, finishing in joint 3rd/4th place to

Monét X Change Monét X Change (born February 19, 1990), stage name of Kevin A. Bertin, is an American drag queen, singer, podcaster, and reality television personality. She is known for competing on the tenth season of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' (2018), on which ...

and

Trinity the Tuck Ryan A. Taylor, known professionally as Trinity "The Tuck" Taylor or just Trinity the Tuck (born December 10, 1985),Taylor in is an American drag queen and recording artist best known for competing on the ninth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race' ...

. Her catchphrases on the show were quoted by Rihanna, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and

Lizzo Melissa Viviane Jefferson (born April 27, 1988), known professionally as Lizzo, is an American singer, rapper, and flutist. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she moved to Houston, Texas with her family when she was 10 years old. After college she ...

. 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'' is an American reality competition series that premiered April 24, 2020 on VH1. A spin-off of ''RuPaul's Drag Race'', the series features celebrities competing for charity, mentored by alumni of the ''Drag ...

'', a Drag Race spin-off where Drag Race alumni transform celebrities into Drag Queens. On March 5 and 6, Heart performed alongside fellow drag race alumni Bebe Zahara Benet, Bob The Drag Queen, The Vixen, Peppermint, and Shea Couleé in the ''Nubia'' Tour, a live drag show featuring and produced by black drag queens. In August, Monique will start in her very own World of Wonder Presents

web series A web series (also known as a web show) is a series of scripted or non-scripted online videos, generally in episodic form, released on the Internet, which first emerged in the late 1990s and became more prominent in the early 2000s. A single in ...

called ''Manic Moments with Monique Heart''. DragCon 2022-133 (52075526304)

In June 2021, Monique 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''. In July 2021, a video of Monique Heart from ''The Pit Stop'' with

Trixie Mattel Brian Michael Firkus (born August 23, 1989), better known by the stage name Trixie Mattel, is an American drag queen, television personality, and singer-songwriter originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is known for her exaggerated, high-camp ...

went viral after Monique mistakenly referred to

Carol Channing Carol Elaine Channing (January 31, 1921 – January 15, 2019) was an American actress, singer, dancer and comedian who starred in Broadway and film musicals. Her characters usually had a fervent expressiveness and an easily identifiable voice, ...

as “Cheryl Canning.” Monique Heart hosted the

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and online music store operated by Amazon. Launched in public beta on September 25, 2007, in January 2008 it became the first music store to sell music without digital rights ...

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), known by his stage name Lil Nas X ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. He rose to prominence with the release of his country rap single " Old Town Road", which first achieved viral popula ...

, Rico Nasty, and Jax. Heart owns her own beauty company, MoBeauty. In January 2022, she was announced as one of the nine contestants on '' RuPaul's Drag Race: UK vs the World'', now going by the name "Mo Heart". Regarding the name change, Heart said: In the semifinal episode, Mo Heart placed in the Top 2, and lipsynced 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 pet ...

" 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 fres ...

, but ultimately lost to Jujubee. She went onto compete in the top 4 finale and came second to Blu Hydrangea.

Music

Monique 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. 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 pol ...

winner

Bob the Drag Queen Christopher D. Caldwell, better known as Bob the Drag Queen and Caldwell Tidicue, is an American drag queen, comedian, actor, activist, musician, and reality television personality. He is best known for winning the eighth season of ''RuPaul's D ...

. On September 4, 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

Heart first realized he was gay at the age of 17 while working a shift at Burger King. Heart is a Christian. In 2019, Heart moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and as of 2021, currently resides in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (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 Riverside County by land ...

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 African-American Christians African-American drag queens Gay entertainers LGBT Christians LGBT people from Missouri LGBT people from New York (state) People from Brooklyn People from Kansas City, Missouri People from Long Island

Monique Heart Mo Heart, previously Monique Heart, is the stage name of Kevin Richardson (born May 22, 1986), an American drag queen, reality television personality, and recording artist best known for competing on the tenth season of '' RuPaul's Drag Race'' ( ...