Victoria Gunvalson was born on March 27, 1962 and lived in the Chicago suburb Mount Prospect, and the family later moved to Palatine in her freshman year of high school, she attended Fremd High School. Of the family's 5 children, she was the first biological child born 5 years after her parents adopted twin girls Kathy and Kim. Her sister Lisa followed 13 months later and then a boy, Bill, was born when Vicki was 5 years old. Her father owned a successful construction company, Steinmetz Acoustical, and her mother was a housewife.
She married first husband Michael J. Wolfsmith at the age of 21 and together they had two children, Michael, who works with his mother at Coto Insurance, and Briana, a nurse. In a 2009 edition of Life and Style magazine she told how her first marriage was an abusive relationship, that Michael was an alcoholic, was abusive verbally and had many affairs during their marriage. The couple divorced when Vicki was 29. Her ex-husband denies that he cheated on Vicki or abused her either emotionally or physically.
Her second marriage was to Donn Gunvalson in 1994. In 2009, the couple celebrated their 15th anniversary by renewing their wedding vows in Turks & Caicos, following a rough year where they had struggled as a couple. However, in October 2010 Vicki filed for divorce. The couple continued to live together while the details of the divorce were finalized.
