Bates an haife shi ne a ranar 27 ga watan Agustan 1986 a Oxford ga mahaifiyar da ta koyar da Faransanci da mahaifin likita, kuma ya girma a Hackney da Taunton, kuma yana da 'yar'uwa da ɗan'uwa. Iyayenta sun saki lokacin da Bates ke cikin shekarunta na ashirin. Ta karanta wallafe-wallafen Turanci a Kwalejin St John, Cambridge, kuma ta kammala karatu daga Jami'ar Cambridge a 2007. Bates ya kasance a Cambridge na tsawon shekaru biyu da rabi a matsayin mai bincike ga masanin ilimin halayyar Susan Quilliam wanda ke aiki a kan sabuntawa na The Joy of Sex. Tambaya: Yaushe ta sami digiri?
Shekarar 2007