Entertainment
Sober Cara Delevingne recalls getting drunk at age 8: I thought drugs and alcohol ‘helped me cope’
Cara Delevingne recalled getting drunk at her aunt’s wedding when she was just 8 years old.
While reflecting on her decades-long struggles with substance abuse, the “Suicide Squad” star, 31, thought back to her aunt’s nuptials in 2001 during an interview with the Sunday Times published on July 7.
“I got drunk that day,” she said. “I was eight, what a crazy age to get drunk.”
Delevingne, who has been sober since 2022, admitted she turned to substances to help her through hard times.
“I used to think drugs and alcohol helped me cope,” she told the outlet, per People. “But they didn’t, they kept me sad and super depressed. I feel like I’ve got my power back and I’m not being controlled by other things.”
It wasn’t until the model saw paparazzi photos of herself acting erratically following the 2022 Burning Man festival that she got the reality check to sober up.
“Listen, I signed up for this, this is my job, it’s what I do. But without that would I be sober now?” she questioned.
“I would have never been Sally Bowles in the West End, I’m super proud of that,” she said, referencing her role in London’s West End’s “Cabaret.”
Despite being on her newfound path, Delevingne doesn’t mind hanging out around others who drink during parties and festivals.
Last month, she attended the Glastonbury Festival in England while completely sober.
Reflecting on the experience, she told the outlet, “It smelt bad, my feet hurt and I didn’t stay up so late, but it was just as much fun. I never want my life to change in that way.”
The actress also mentioned the fire that burned down her $7 million mansion in Los Angeles in March, claiming she likely would’ve abused substances as a coping mechanism if she hadn’t been on the wagon.
“It sucks but everyone was safe and, like anything, if I’d not been sober I would still be reeling over that,” she said.
Since getting clean, the actress has been open about her journey, admitting it’s made her “stable” and “calmer” despite fighting temptation.
“It hasn’t [been easy], but there have never been moments when I’m like, ‘This isn’t worth it,’” she told Elle UK in July 2023. “It’s been worth every second. I just don’t know what it would take for me to give it up.”
After going through a 12-step treatment program in 2023, the “Only Murders in the Building” star also revealed she planned to permanently remove her tattoos to signify a “fresh start” of her “new beginnings.”