Chris New

New was born and raised in Swindon, Wiltshire, United Kingdom, and comes from a working-class background. His father was a lorry driver and his mother held various short-term jobs, and New has an older brother. According to his own account, New "ran away" from Swindon in order to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. Living in London was a major change for him:

...coming from a place where nothing was happening, Swindon, to suddenly this massive place, London, where there were huge amounts of things happening[,] I think I just ran around going, "Oh my God, oh my God," like a kid in a toy shop. It was a big thing for me to meet people who weren't living purely a consumer experience, because in Swindon, people rightly or wrongly live a very normal life. They go to work, they buy nice things and have nice holidays and bring up their kids. Unfortunately, there's something wrong with me which means that doesn't work, and I came to London and met loads of people for whom that doesn't work, either—where money wasn't an issue, where possessions weren't an issue, a whole different code of beliefs and faiths.

New financed his education by soliciting small donations from hundreds of people he knew. While at RADA, New sang in Stephen Sondheim's musical play Assassins (he has a tenor singing voice), and performed in Joe Orton's play The Erpingham Camp as part of his A-levels in 2005. He graduated from the school in 2006.