Jaren Merrell

Merrell was born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in Plainfield, being the youngest of five children from a mother who was minister. He has performed in theater since he was nine years old. In 2011, he graduated from Columbia College with a degree in costume design and was the lead designer on Shakespeare's 'The Winter's Tale' on his senior year. Before doing Drag full-time, he worked part-time as a sales associate and customer service representative for an adult store. After auditioning five times, every year since starting to do drag, Merrell became one of 14 queens to compete on the ninth season of RuPaul's Drag Race (2009). In June 2019, New York magazine named Couleé one of the top 100 Most Powerful Drag Queens in America.