Creator / Peppermint

Peppermint (born January 31, 1980) is an American singer, actress, and drag queen.

One of New York City's most prominent local drag queens, Peppermint is perhaps best known for competing on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race, where she finished as the runner-up to winner Sasha Velour.

While many other transgender people compete on Drag Race, Peppermint is notable for being the first transgender woman on Drag Race to mention her gender identity on the show's official channels prior to the season airing (in her Meet The Queens video).^note Several other Drag Race queens prior to her casting were also transgender, but either transitioned after their season wrapped or in one case coming out while on set.

Outside of drag, Peppermint is also an actress and singer. She's guest-starred in many a television series (including an episode of America's Next Top Model as none other than Tyra Banks herself) and released her debut album, Hardcore Glamour, in 2009.

During her season of Drag Race, she collaborated with fellow season nine queens Aja, Sasha Velour, and Alexis Michelle on the single "C.L.A.T." ^note "Club, Legend, Art, Theatre", which celebrates their shared hometown. She's also released singles parodying the likes of Azealia Banks and Beyoncé. She also has a documentary about her life in production with the working title, Project Peppermint.

In 2018, Peppermint joined the cast of Head Over Heels, a jukebox musical based on the music of the The Go-Go's, becoming the first trans woman to originate a principal role in a Broadway production.

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Selected filmography:

• CSI: NY (2007) as Sex Worker ^note episode: ""The Lying Game"
• The Real World (2009) as herself ^note episode: "The Outs and Ins of Brooklyn"
• America's Next Top Model (2010) as Tyra Banks ^note episode: "Smile and Pose"
• Ugly Betty (2010) ^note episode: "Chica and the Man"
• The Daily Show (2016) as herself ^note episode: "April 6—Angelica Ross"
• RuPaul's Drag Race (2017) as herself ^note Season 9; runner-up
• The Traitors (2024) as herself

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Discography:

• Hardcore Glamour (2009)
• Black Pepper (2017)
• A Girl Like Me: Letters to My Lovers (2020)

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Theatre credits:

• Head over Heels (2018) as Pythio

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Peppermint provides examples of the following tropes:

• The Ace: Peppermint once described herself as a "lip sync assassin" while on Drag Race, and easily demolished her opposing queen both times she landed in the bottom two. She also defeated Trinity Taylor in the first lip sync of the finale, earning her a spot in the final two. However, she's capable of singing, as she did in "Make Me Moan".
• Big Applesauce: She's a prominent New York queen.
• Nice Girl: Just about anybody who's even known her personally describes Peppermint as being a genuinely nice, warm person.

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