[2] She is the daughter of Peter Maitlis, Emeritus Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the University of Sheffield, and Marion Basco, a psychotherapist from Cambridge.

In September 1958, her mother taught French at Cambridgeshire High School for Girls (since 1974 Long Road Sixth Form College).

[7] Maitlis was brought up on Park Avenue in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, with her two older sisters, Nicky and Sally.

[10] At university she took part in The Marlowe Society, in productions such as Doctor Faustus, directed by Clare Venables, with Stuart Crossman, and Dominic Rowan.

[12] Maitlis initially wanted to work as a theatre director, prompted by her love for drama, but instead went into radio broadcasting.

[24] In an address at the 2022 Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis cautioned journalists about self-censorship in the name of being reluctant to take on populist critics.

[25] The News Agents, a daily podcast from Global Media presented by Maitlis, Jon Sopel, and Lewis Goodall, was launched on 30 August 2022.

[31][32] In a Newsnight discussion concerning Brexit on 15 July 2019,[33] a viewer alleged that Maitlis had been "sneering and bullying" towards columnist Rod Liddle.

[34][35][36] On 27 May 2020, the BBC said that Maitlis's introduction to Newsnight the night before, which discussed the allegations that the Prime Minister's chief adviser, Dominic Cummings, had contravened lockdown restrictions, "did not meet our standards of due impartiality".

[38] On 3 September 2020, a report by the BBC's Editorial Complaints Unit also ruled against Maitlis in the matter, stating Maitlis's comments "went beyond an attempt to set out the programme agenda" and that the "definitive and at times critical nature of the language" had "placed the presenter closer to one side of the debate" and thus "did not meet the required standards on accuracy or impartiality".

[39][40] In February 2021, Maitlis was criticised for lacking impartiality after sharing a tweet by Piers Morgan, which condemned the government.

[41] In her August 2022 MacTaggart Lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Maitlis reflected on the incident, saying that BBC editors were initially complimentary.

The following day, after the Prime Minister's office complained, the BBC apologised and removed the segment from its streaming service.

[5] In 2002, it was reported that Maitlis had been stalked for more than a decade by Edward Vines, a former friend from her time at the university who would frequently appear at her place of work.

He admitted to harassing Maitlis and was sentenced to four months' imprisonment but was released because of the time he had spent in detention on remand.

[51] In January 2018, Vines was jailed for 3 years and 9 months for breaching a restraining order forbidding him from contacting Maitlis.