Born in England. Ritu Arya's mother and father work in real estate. She is of Indian descent and has two brothers, Romi and Rahul, the latter of whom is also an actor. She began acting as a teenager. Arya earned a bachelor's degree in astrophysics from the University of Southampton, where she performed with the University of Southampton theatre group and comedy society, including several shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She subsequently trained at the Oxford School of Drama.