Leanni Lei was born in the Philippines as Anna M. Stetler. Her family moved to the United States when she was quite young. She grew up in Irvine, California and graduated from Irvine High Irvine in 1991. She was a cheerleader and member of the honor society in high school. Her father was in the military and her mother worked as a restaurant manager. During her last year in high school, her parents divorced, and she became rebellious, smoking marijuana, and being expelled from the cheerleader squad.