sheridan smith was born on 25 june 1981 in epworth, lincolnshire, the only daughter of marylin smith , her grandad was a banjo player in yorkshire and later played as a trio with his daughters. smith studied dance at the joyce mason school of dancing from an early age. she later attended south axholme comprehensive school, she never trained at a drama school, she was a member of the national youth music theatre from 1995 to 2001, performing a number of understudy roles in productions such as "bugsy malone", "pendragon", and "into the woods". she completed further education at john leggott college in scunthorpe.