Janet is the daughter of Stanley W G Bull and Cherry Cuff Ardern. Her father is an electrical engineer who had served as a sergeant in the Royal Corps of Signals in World War II. Her mother was Welsh and worked as a school dinner lady.
She also worked in the civil service as a clerical assistant in a tax office.
Her mother was still married to her first husband, George Ardern, at the time of her birth. She was not to marry Stanley until 1954, hence her name being recorded thus in the birth records. She was later to take her father’s surname.
Janet grew up in Fulham, west London, and Perivale, Greater London after the family moved there when she was 14. The family stayed in her mother’s hometown of Llanfairfechan in North Wales for their holidays.
Janet has a younger sister Patricia Balsom. In a recent interview, she revealed that she almost killed her. She however made peace with her before she died from cancer aged 57.