Born 26 July 1980 in Wilrijk, Belgium, Cem spent his childhood in Tenerife (Canary Islands) until the age of 9 when he moved to southwest Turkey. His mother is from Belgium while his father is from Turkey making him fluent in many languages, including: Turkish, Flemmish, English, Spanish, German, and some Italian and French. Though always passionate about acting and music, he abruptly had to stop pursuing his dream in 1999. He could only start his acting career in 2007.