Julia was born in Dublin to a Greek mother and a Derbyshire-born father. The family moved back to the UK in the early seventies and settled in Rutland (the smallest county in Britain).

Business interests of both parents also took them to Sheffield where Julia went to school. Julia's first professional engagement was in the Crucible Theatre's stage production of Peter Pan, where she donned a fishtail and got afternoons off school playing a mermaid.

After leaving school she moved to London and after a short spell of working in the family fashion business, she followed her dream of working in television. In Spring 2016, Julia presented an 8-part primetime ITV series, Best Walks With a View. She will be presenting a new series, Britain's Best Walks with Julia Bradbury for ITV in January 2017.