Niki Chow Lai-Kei (Chinese: 周勵淇) was born and raised in Hong Kong. She speaks fluent Mandarin, however netizens have noted that her Cantonese pronunciation is not perfect. This is because she spoke the Shanghainese dialect at home from childhood. She is the younger sister of Hong Kong model Cathy Chow.

Niki's school life ended when she was spotted by an agent who offered her the opportunity to work as a model. This was the beginning of her life as an entertainer. She was only about 17 years old at the time.