Colin McLean was born in Wellington in August 1978, spending the first five years of his life in Raumati South and then moving with his family to Petone, a suburb of Lower Hutt. He attended Petone College, but dropped out before graduation, and took a job delivering mail at a Wellington law firm, where he worked for two and a half years. During this time, he began to do drag, designing and sewing his own costumes because it was less expensive than buying or renting costumes. McLean is openly gay.