Born Gemma Louise Ward
3 November 1987 (1987-11-03) (age 23)
Perth, Western Australia, Australia
Height 5 ft 9.5 in (1.77 m)
Hair color Blonde
Eye color Blue
Measurements (US) 32-24-35;
Gemma Ward was born on 3 November 1987 in Perth, Western Australia, the second of four children to Gary and Claire Ward. Her older sister Sophie is also a model and she has younger twin brothers, Oscar and Henry. She was educated at the Presbyterian Ladies' College and Shenton College.
As said herself in a Teen Vogue interview, she accompanied her friends to a modelling competition and ended up being scouted herself:
I had come straight from my auntie and uncle's farm, and I was wearing this big gray barn jacket with mud all over it. When the scout came up to me, I said, 'No, thank you.' They forged my mum's signature [for mandatory parental consent], and pushed me in front of the cameras.
Ward didn't win the competition, but Vivien's Model Agency picked her up after seeing a small picture of her in Kurv, an Australian-produced arts, culture and fashion magazine. She was signed by Vivien's Model Management based in Australia, Why Not in Milan and IMG in New York.