Somerville, born to an Australian mother of Anglo-Celtic origin and a Chinese father, became famous when it was revealed that she is the descendant of a prominent Qing dynasty political reformer, Kang Youwei.

Somerville's skills were discovered during a badminton talent identification program which she attended after receiving a flyer from her primary school PE teacher when she was about 12 or 13.

[5][6] Born in Melbourne in 1995, Somerville first captured the media's attention as a young player in 2012 at the Uber Cup in China.

[3] She won gold medals at the 2014 Oceania Badminton Championships in women's doubles and mixed team events.

[10] She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in the women's and mixed doubles but was eliminated in the group stage in both events.