Alison King was born on 3 March 1973 at Leicester Royal Infirmary to Alex and June King, who were both nurses at that hospital. She was their fifth child and third daughter. She was raised in the family home first in Ratby Lane, Markfield, Leicestershire, then in Kirby Muxloe. She attended South Charnwood High School, where she first took an interest in acting. She continued to act while attending Groby Community College, where a teacher would offer drama and dance classes to students in their free time. Alison was raised as a Christadelphian and attended the Christadelphian Church at Westleigh, Leicester where she was baptised as a teenager. At the age of 18, King moved to Newquay, Cornwall, where she worked at Fat Willys Surf Shack. When she was 22, she enrolled at the North Cheshire Community Theatre. During her time there she got her first television role, playing Helen, a hair salon crimper, in two episodes of Brookside. Before the conclusion of her 3-year diploma, she was cast in the major role of Lynda Block in Sky One's Dream Team.
