Rose first joined the Girlfriend model search in 2002, for which she came in second to Catherine McNeil.
Rose is the goddaughter of Indigenous Australian boxer Lionel Rose and the great-granddaughter of Alec Campbell, who was the last surviving Australian soldier who fought in the Battle of Gallipoli. As a teenager, she attended University High School and Footscray City College. As a young child, Rose travelled frequently, living in rural Victoria, Tasmania, and Surfers Paradise before finally settling in Melbourne.
Rose was born in Melbourne, the daughter of Katia Langenheim, a 20-year-old single mother and artist, whom Rose describes as one of her role models and the great-granddaughter of German movie actress Ellen Bang. 2.3.2 2015–2018: Orange is the New Black and film stardom.