Rachel Shelley was born on August 25, 1969, in Swindon, England. She grew up primarily in Cambridgeshire and is the youngest of four children. After spending some of her childhood in Malta, she attended school in Huntingdon. Shelley graduated from the University of Sheffield with a B.A. Hons in English and Drama in 1992 and later moved to London to pursue her acting career. She has been in a long-term relationship with Matthew Parkhill, a TV writer, director, and producer, since 1995. The couple has a daughter named Eden, born on September 8, 2009. Shelley currently resides in Notting Hill, London.