Gave a rare interview in 2019 where she confirms that she was born in Scotland, her family hailing from the Paisley area. Some sources claim Irving was born in Hertfordshire in the mid-1950s, but this is due to the birth details of a Penelope J. Irving, whose birth was registered in 1956 in Hitchin, being mistaken for hers. Scottish birth records show Penny was in fact born in Paisley in 1942 with the name Marie Tricki.