Victoria Derbyshire was born on 2 October 1968 in Bury, Lancashire, England. She is the daughter of Anthony Derbyshire and Pauline Derbyshire. She spent her childhood in Lancashire and attended Bury Grammar School for Girls before pursuing higher education in journalism and literature.

After studying English language and literature at the University of Liverpool, she completed a postgraduate diploma in radio and television journalism at the University of Central Lancashire. These studies prepared her for a career in broadcast journalism.

Derbyshire began working in local radio before joining BBC Radio 5 Live in 1998, where she presented major news programmes. She later moved into television and became widely known as the host of The Victoria Derbyshire Show, a current-affairs and debate programme broadcast on BBC Two and the BBC News Channel from 2015 to 2020.

She has also presented BBC News at Nine, Newsnight, and other BBC news programmes on BBC One and the BBC News Channel, covering global news and politics. Derbyshire lives in the United Kingdom with her husband and children.