Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva (née Slone), who worked as a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver. She has Irish, Italian, German and Cherokee Indian ancestry.[5] She moved to New York City at the age of 15 where she completed her education at New York's Professional Children's School and the Lee Strasberg Institute.
