Burns was born on 8 June 1974 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of singer Ronnie Burns and Dancer Maggie Burns (née Stewart). As a child, she did not participate much in Sports. Her younger brother, Michael (then aged 7), became interested in martial arts after watching the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and started learning taekwondo. Shortly thereafter, their father also began training in taekwondo; together, her father and brother encouraged her (then aged 14) to begin training as well.