Hunt was born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter of Alice E. (née Jatczak), a homemaker, and Robert Edward Hunt, an electrician. Her mother is of Polish ancestry and her father was of Irish and Belgian ancestry. She was raised in a large Catholic family, and has three older brothers, Patrick, Kevin, and Tom, two older sisters, Cathy and Carol, and one younger sister, Mary. Hunt was educated in Catholic schools and attended St. Ferdinand Grammar School and Notre Dame High School for Girls in Chicago.