One of Catherine Bell's first modeling jobs was an extended assignment in Japan. When she returned to California, she studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse with Milton Katselas. She was a freelance masseuse whose clientele included singer Peter Gabriel. Catherine Bell was on the game show To Tell the Truth in 1990 where she mentioned that she was a massage therapist (she was one of the imposters on the show, she was playing an imposter of a body double named Shelly Michelle).