Before she made her television debut, Marlo was raised in the state of Florida with two older sisters. She also has a little brother that was raised in partially in Memphis by his father.  While growing up, her mother struggled with substance abuse and was often violent toward her children, while her dad went on to remarry. She left home at nine years old. This led to her being put in foster care and moving from one foster home to another frequently.  As an adult, she has spoken about not resenting her mother for her rocky upbringing. She even purchased a house for her mother when she was financially able to do so. However, she has not been able to repair her relationship with her father. She resents him for abandoning her, while she considers her mother to have tried the best despite the drug use.  

As a young adult, Marlo studied and earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of South Florida. Eventually, she moved to Atlanta to be with her friend and to escape negative peer pressure she was encountering in Florida. In Atlanta, she was able to find work as a stylist, eventually opening a store with some of her friends. Marlo Hampton recently celebrated her 42nd birthday on January 31st. Her birthday celebration made headlines when she was spotted wearing a see-through jumpsuit.

She is a self described “Style Expert, Executive Producer & Television Personality”.  Outside of television, Marlo runs the fashion blog called SimplyMarlo.com. She is known to be an entrepreneur and fashion enthusiast.  She is considered by many to be one of Atlanta’s top fashionistas. One of her proudest accomplishments has been starting the charity Glam It Up Girls Foundation. Through this program, she empowers young girls in the foster system by taking them shopping and teaching them important life lessons about things such as money management and personal hygiene. She is committed to helping these girls avoid making the same mistakes that she made in her past. She teaches them lessons about mistakes that she has made that ended up leading to her arrests or getting in with the wrong crowds.

On television, Marlo Hampton is well known for the friendship she has with Nene Leakes, who is also on the cast the Real Housewives of Atlanta.  She has also made appearances in the show I Dream of NeNe. Her stint on this show was very controversial when she was accused of trying to upstage the bride at a wedding. During her time on Real Housewives of Atlanta, she was involved in a few controversies.

In a recent appearance on the show, Marlo notably caused controversy when she got into a huge fight with fellow castmate Porsha Williams, while the women were on a trip to Barcelona, Spain. Marlo started the confrontation when she made rude comments to Porsha, such as calling her fat. After the ladies started yelling, the fight escalated and became physical. This event caused Porsha to leave Barcelona and abandon the rest of the trip with the other castmates.