Shobha De was born in Mumbai, India. She graduated from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai with a degree in psychology.

After making her name as a model, she began a career in journalism in 1970, during the course of which she founded and edited three magazines – Stardust, Society, and Celebrity.

In the 1980s, she contributed to the Sunday magazine section of the Times of India. In her columns, she used to explore the socialite life in Mumbai lifestyles of the celebrities. At present, she is a freelance writer and columnist for several newspapers and magazines.

Shobha De met her present husband, shipping tycoon and business magnate Dilip De in 1981. He was a widower with two children, his wife having died in a car crash a couple of years earlier. Shobha (then Shobha Kilachand ) was a divorcee with two children of her own. The pair got married in 1984. She and Dilip De later had two more children.

She is the cousin of ace photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha.