Selita Ebanks was born on February 15, 1983 in George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, a British Overseas Territory. She was raised in a large family that includes seven brothers. Influenced by her brothers, Ebanks played many sports growing up, such as basketball, soccer and tennis.

The Ebanks family was quite poor, living in what she described as "a little blue, zinc-roof shack on Walkers Road". Often, Ebanks didn't have shoes to wear to George Town primary school. Her family, her mother in particular, encouraged her development through extracurricular programs.

Later in life, Ebanks moved to the United States, and settled in Staten Island, New York. After moving to New York City she was accepted at Spelman College, Columbia University, and New York University. However, she graduated from none of these institutions. She had planned to study Law before she started modeling.