Abbey Lee

Lee was born in Melbourne, Victoria, the daughter of Kerry, a psychologist, and Kim Kershaw, who played in the Victorian Football League for Richmond and Hawthorn. She is their middle child. She has said that as a child, she was "always in the hospital." At age four, she suffered from meningitis and had to have two spinal taps. She also had a tumour on her knee, and several broken bones from climbing trees.

She grew up in Kensington, Victoria and attended St Michael's Catholic Primary School in North Melbourne. She has said that she "grew up with 42 nationalities", explaining that her primary school of 150 children was very multicultural. She then attended the Academy of Mary Immaculate in Fitzroy.

Lee has said that she "did not come from wealth" and had various jobs while a teenager, including working at a fun fair, as a grocery clerk, and at a McDonald's. She took jujitsu classes for seven years and was involved in other sports.

In 2004, she won the Australian Girlfriend Model Search. Her rebellious side got her expelled from high school at the start of her final year. After high school, in 2005, she moved from Melbourne to Sydney to begin modelling. She lived 100 metres (330 ft) from the beach, and it was while at the beach that she was scouted by Chic Management's Kathy Ward, who also discovered Miranda Kerr and Samantha Harris. She signed with Chic Management within weeks.