Simone Ashley

Simone Ashley is a 31-year-old British actress known for Bridgerton, Sex Education, Broadchurch, and Pokémon Detective Pikachu. Born on Thursday 30th of March 1995 in Camberley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom, she is of Indian Tamil descent and identifies as British, English, and Indian. Standing 5'10" with a slim build, black hair, and brown eyes, she has no tattoos or piercings. Her Instagram following has reached 4.7 million as of May 2026.

Her parents, Latha and Gunasekharan Pillai, are first-generation immigrants from India. Growing up in a household of academics, she was drawn to the creative arts, while her parents were initially hesitant. She told Glamour: "My parents were quite protective over me. They're first generation. They came from India to this country, so they didn't really have a life where they could choose to be whatever they wanted." Simone grew up singing classical music and opera and playing the piano.

Her family moved to Beaconsfield, where she attended Beaconsfield High School, then Redroofs Theatre School in Maidenhead for sixth form. She left school early at sixteen, describing herself as "very stubborn" and "wishing my life away." She spent some teen years in Ojai, California, with relatives. At 18, she signed with a modeling agency and began auditioning. She later studied acting at Arts Educational School (ArtsEd) in West London. She started her professional career in 2016, having been active for about 10 years.