Giovanni was born in California, and grew up in Orange County.[3][1] Her father has Italian-Yugoslavian heritage, and her mother has French, German, Irish, and Native American heritage.[4] In an interview, she has stated that she entered rehab at age 12 for drug and alcohol problems and stayed there for 26 months. During her second year in rehab she began taking high school classes and completed two years worth of classes during that time. After leaving rehab, she entered high school in her junior year.[4]