Supermodel and actor Cara Delevingne has credited her girlfriend Minke for making her “happy and comfortable with who I am.”
The 30-year-old star of Suicide Squad, Pan and Kids in Love, has opened up about her relationship with the London singer, real name Leah Mason, in a new interview with ELLE UK. The couple have been dating since early 2023.
She credited Minke - with whom she was recently spotted enjoying the tennis at the Wimbledon Championships - for introducing her to “a lot of things and people.”
Delevingne said: “My girlfriend has been really wonderful in introducing me to a lot of things and people. Being with my girlfriend, in this relationship, there are just so many things that came at once that have made me so happy and comfortable with who I am.”
The model, who came out as pansexual - or being attracted to a person regardless of their sex or gender identity - in 2018, also spoke about the importance of being proud to be a member of the queer community.
She said: “Now more than ever, in England and in the US. It’s a scary time for queer people. But the more that we’re met with fear, the more joy we have to bring. Because no one can take that joy away, no matter what. We’re not going anywhere.”
She said representation was important: “Especially for young people, who feel like they’re alone, to see people who are like them – and to see anyone in the umbrella of the LGBTQIA+ flag. It’s all family.”
Delevingne also opened up about her documented struggles with addiction and mental health.
It comes after the Carnival Row star admitted earlier this year that she checked herself into rehab after “heartbreaking” pictures of her looking dishevelled went viral across social media.
She said her rapid rise to fame and feeling like she “didn’t deserve” success was partly to blame for her issues.
“It didn’t feel real,” she said of becoming an overnight sensation. “I didn’t feel like I deserved it. I didn’t feel worthy.
“I was still stuck in this mindset of not being good enough. I was doing the best I could, but I wasn’t really appreciating every moment. Inside, I felt very different to how I looked.”
She said opening up about her difficulties - including in a Vogue article in April this year - had been freeing.
“For a long time, I felt like I was hiding a lot from people who looked up to me,” she said. “I finally feel as though I can be free and myself, fully.”
The star admitted sobriety: “Hasn’t [been easy], but there have never been moments when I’m like, ‘This isn’t worth it.’
“It’s been worth every second. I just don’t know what it would take for me to give it up. I am stable. I’m calmer.”
The September issue of ELLE UK is on sale from July 27.
