The 'Challenge XXX: Dirty 30' contestant then reveals that they first did experiment with women's clothes and makeup for a drag challenge in season 31 of 'The Real World' in 2016.
- Oct 24, 2019
AceShowbiz - "The Challenge" star Amo Hall is opening up about their journey of transformation. The non-binary star talks with Us Weekly that they are transitioning, though they prefer to call it "transformation."
"I've been really lucky that I have an online community of trans people, both men and women, who have been really helping me feel empowered to start this transformation," the 27-year-old reveals. "I guess maybe that's more of what I'm calling it -- a transformation, rather than a transition."
Amo was previously known as Ammo, a name reminiscent of the male Mormon figure Ammon, though they later change it to Amo. "Now I am no longer a Mormon and I am identifying myself with a new name: Amo. Amo means 'love' in many languages," they explain. "Given that this transition has been the ultimate act of self-love, Amo seems a fitting name for this new chapter of my life."
"The Challenge XXX: Dirty 30" contestant then reveals that they first did experiment with women's clothes and makeup for a drag challenge in season 31 of "The Real World" in 2016. "I was watching the other men get ready and kind of turn gender into something that was more comedic. For me, it just felt so personal and serious, and I couldn't really figure out why," they recalled.
Amo started to think about their gender identity after they returned to New York City, after growing up Mormon in Idaho and Utah. "All of a sudden, having grown up really Mormon, I was in this super gender-flexible space," they said.
Talking about how their body felt "violated," Amo shared, "I came back to New York, having had my body been violated, and starting to think about why is this so scary to have these strong men on top of me or pushing me around. [I realized] that a lot of that was this ongoing body and gender dysmorphia that I've dealt with since I was a child."
Their physical transformation came around their 27th birthday after they filmed a music video in which they pleyed a pansexual Jesus. "I was living in this other skin, playing these two roles for quite a while," they added. "I guess the music video and the process of playing this transgender Christ, it gave me permission to let that old male me die, and then to begin taking steps towards resurrecting myself as something that felt more honest."
To celebrate their milestone of taking hormones for two months, Amo recently wrote on Instagram, "2 months of joy. 2 months of pain. 2 months of confusion. 2 months of heartache. 2 months of growth. 2 months of learning. 2 months of loving. 2 months of transforming. 2 months of transitioning."
"The nature of being a trans person is realizing that not all of us can be Caitlyn Jenner," Amo added during the interview. "We don't get to just wake up, walk into a surgeon's office and emerge as beautiful."
"For the rest of us, being trans is just how we wake up and feel every morning," they said. "It's not about how you look, it's about how you feel. I think that that's, for me, what I’m focusing on the most right now."
