She is of Pakistani and Indian heritage and pursued a degree in performing arts from the University of Brighton.

[4] In her autobiography Dishonoured: How I Escaped An Arranged Marriage And Survived An Honour Killing To Become A Star (2009; John Blake Publishing Ltd.) she discusses her troubled relationship with her conservative family including a forced arranged marriage in Pakistan and how she escaped it (including a subsequent planned honour killing) to begin a career in entertainment.

She married Romanian Vlad Stanescu in April 2017 but they separated after a year.

[5] In September 2013, Hayat was named on the FHM sexiest women in the world list, in position 81.

[7] She entered as a wild card entry but got evicted on 12th week on 8 December 2013 (Day 84).