'Crazy age': Cara Delevingne recalls getting drunk at just 8
British supermodel and actor, Cara Delevingne recently dished on her past "bad habits" in a candid interview with The Sunday Times. She recounted her early exposure to alcohol, and getting drunk at her aunt's wedding in 2001, when she was just eight years old, terming it as a "crazy age to get drunk." Initially, Delevingne believed that drugs and alcohol were coping mechanisms for life's challenges.
Delevingne's journey to sobriety and its impact
While discussing her troubled journey, Delevingne revealed she soon discovered that substance abuse was keeping her "sad and super depressed," leading her to choose sobriety in 2022. "I feel like I've got my power back and I'm not being controlled by other things." The turning point came for the model when she saw paparazzi photos of herself behaving erratically after the 2022 Burning Man festival, prompting her to realize the need to sober up.
Sobriety's role in Delevingne's personal and professional life
Delevingne believes her sobriety allowed her to land a role she is proud of—Sally Bowles in London's West End's Cabaret. She also shared how sobriety helped her cope with a personal tragedy—the fire that destroyed her $7M home in California, earlier this year. Fortunately, all occupants were away from the home at the time. It took 94 firefighters a total of two hours and 16 minutes to extinguish the blaze, which ultimately caused the roof of the home to collapse.
'Severe insomnia,' 'sleeping pills at 10': Delevingne's troublesome journey
Delevingne has been candid about the difficulties she faced during her sobriety journey. In an interview with Vogue in April 2023, she revealed her early struggles with alcohol and mental health. By age 10, coping with severe insomnia, she was prescribed sleeping pills and later diagnosed with dyspraxia—a condition affecting movement and coordination. "This was the beginning of mental health issues and inadvertent self-harm," she reflects, leading to various therapies like "art therapy, music therapy, EMDR, CBT."
Her struggles with depression
Delevingne also opened up about her struggles with depression, particularly during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. She began quarantine with Ashley Benson—her then-girlfriend of almost two years, but by April—their relationship had ended. "And then I was alone, really alone..." "Instead of taking the time to learn something new...I got very wrapped up in misery, wallowing, and partying." She also admitted her enrollment in a 12-step sobriety program—emphasizing that her path to sobriety was not an overnight transformation but a gradual process.
