Dawson grew up in Long Beach, California, where he attended Lakewood High School.[13] Dawson has revealed in a video, that as a teenager he was over-weight and would get bullied a lot, as well as being beaten by his alcoholic father, who then abandoned the family. He has since lost 150 pounds. Shane has three dogs, Miley, Charlie, and Chocolate as well as two cats, Muffins and Snoop. They often appear in his videos. He used to work in Jenny Craig, Inc. along with his mother and brother, but was fired after he uploaded a video of himself pole dancing in the building he worked in. His mother, brother and about 6 other coworkers who appeared in the video also got fired after the company saw the video.[14] In a video he said he is a virgin, and plans to stay one until he is married as he believes strongly in sex after marriage.[15] Shane Dawson revealed in a video that he and an unknown female broke up from their relationship, which lasted about a year.[16] He decided to not release the female's identity in order to preserve her from getting negative criticism (though he mentioned that she had appeared in some of Dawson's videos). In March 2012, Dawson stated that he was in a relationship with fellow YouTuber, Lisa Schwartz.[17]
Dawson currently resides in Sherman Oaks, California