Claire Goose was born in Edinburgh and lived there till she was two and a half. She grew up in Norfolk. Her parents are mother, Joy, and father, David, who is a GP in Kings Lynn and has also looked after the Royals. Claire also has an elder sister, Caroline, a nursery nurse, and an elder brother, Duncan, who works in marketing. At the age of 16, she attended the Italia Conti Stage School. Before making it big in acting, she had previous jobs including a silver service waitress, a story-telling raccoon in a theme park, admin work for the NSPCC and has also done modelling. Claire enjoys clubbing, tarot cards, palm reading and playing poker, she has also been dancing since the age of three. Before her big break in Casualty (1986), she nearly got the role of Tiffany in EastEnders (1985), but was beaten by Martine McCutcheon, and she was also down to the last two for a part in Soldier Soldier (1991).