She was educated at Monk's Walk School, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire. Dixon's parents separated when she was four and her father moved away, resulting in her later describing her family life as "very dysfunctional".[13] Between the ages of eight and ten, Dixon witnessed her mother suffer domestic violence from her partner;[14] she only spoke publicly about the issue 21 years later, in 2010.[14] Dixon created a documentary for the BBC, Don't Hit My Mum, regarding the issue of domestic abuse from a child's perspective, and remarked upon her own childhood: "When I think about that time, I don't remember living in harmony, I don't remember any fun times, I suppose because the negativity has clouded it.