Sophie Heawood grew up in Yorkshire, where she developed an early understanding of celebrity as the only vegetarian in the local state school, and wrote earnest letters to the South African ambassador about apartheid, aged ten. She later studied languages at Kings College and Birkbeck, both part of London University, while working nights as the door-girl in the legendary nightclub Trash.

She has also lived in Barcelona working as an au pair, in Hong Kong working as an extra in Chinese soap operas, and in Los Angeles, where she interviewed the famous and wrote columns on modern life for publications including the Sunday Times, Guardian, Observer, Vogue, and Vice magazine. She was nominated for Interviewer of the Year at the British Press Awards 2019. She lives in Hackney, East London, with her daughter, and hasn’t quite stopped nightclubbing yet.