CARA Delevingne has revealed she was selling drugs as a teenager before spiralling into addiction, suffering seizures and coming close to ending her life.
The , 32, made the candid admission during a revealing interview on the , where she opened up about her troubled teenage years, battle with substance abuse and the moment she finally decided to get sober.
Cara Delevingne opened up on her drugs hell on the Call Her Daddy podcast Credit: YouTube/Call Her Daddy
The model turned music star revealed she began dealing drugs at school aged just 14 Credit: YouTube/Call Her Daddy
Cara admitted she first started buying with the intention of selling them – but often ended up taking them herself.
She said: “Because I didn’t have money at that point, I started buying drugs to sell them and to do them.
“When I bought the drugs to sell, I just did them all by myself. Not all of them. I sold half of them, did the rest.
“So I basically did the drugs for free. Wasn’t a great drug dealer.”
Cara’s modelling career propelled her into the spotlight aged 15 – but behind-the-scenes she was struggling with addiction Credit: Getty
Cara told host Alex Cooper that she took acid “every day” and suffered terrifying hallucinations
The British star said ketamine became one of her biggest problems and revealed she was experimenting with drugs from as young as 14.
She said: “I loved what drugs made me feel. I loved not having to think about my mom.
“I loved not having to feel the pressure of not being good at school, not feeling good enough or loving myself. All of that went away.”
Cara admitted her drug use escalated to the point she was taking acid “every day” and suffered terrifying hallucinations.
Recalling one particularly bad trip, she said: “I thought that my dad was God and my mom was the devil and I had to kill her to save the end of the world. Like, I lost my mind.”
The former model said her mental health deteriorated so badly she became suicidal and used drugs as a way to escape.
She said: “I just became suicidal. My whole world exploded and I was like, ‘I think everything I’ve thought for the last 15 years is wrong.’
“My brain was absolutely in turmoil. I would just try and knock myself out physically because I wanted to escape.”
Her struggles later became public in 2022 when shocking photographs emerged showing her behaving erratically at Van Nuys Airport in Los Angeles shortly after attending Burning Man festival.
Cara told host how she later suffered seizures linked to stress and exhaustion during that period, admitting her life had become unmanageable.
The model is getting ready to release her debut album this month Credit: Getty
She performed on stage in Berlin at the Betonhalle earlier this week Credit: Supplied
Speaking about that chapter, she explained that Burning Man ultimately became a turning point.
She said: “I went straight to Burning Man. Then that happened and I was like, ‘I can get sober.’
“I’d been to rehab before but I’d focus more on trauma and then I’d kind of dip back into things.”
The festival took place the same year she celebrated her 30th birthday and finally chose to get sober.
Looking back, Cara said she no longer wanted to hide from her addiction.
She said: “I felt it was necessary to talk about it today, which I’d never done before. It’s nice. It’s a relief.”
The star, who is releasing her debut album later this summer, said music became an essential part of her recovery – and revealed one particular song changed the course of her life.
On getting sober, she admitted: “I really needed to do it. A song came on on shuffle when I was alone in this hotel room and it was a song that played at a friend’s funeral who died of an overdose.
“And in that one moment, I was like, ‘What am I doing? Why am I doing this?’
“And I threw all the drugs down the toilet.”
Cara has since spoken openly about rebuilding her life and recently revealed her long-awaited debut album was born out of her recovery journey.
She said: “As soon as I got sober, I said to my team at the time, ‘I have to get in the studio.’
“I really needed to do it. I didn’t know what it was going to be yet.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Cara reflected on feeling different growing up and struggling with her identity.
The model, who identifies as queer, said she never felt comfortable fitting into traditional expectations.
She said: “I knew I was a little queer kid running around. I didn’t feel like I belonged in my body, in my family, in any of it.”
She also admitted modelling left her feeling disconnected from herself and the ultra-feminine image she was expected to project.
Cara said: “I really had to become this girl that I wasn’t.
“I’m very happy and proud of being a woman, but that’s just not who I am.”
The actress has spent the past few years rebuilding her life away from the chaos that once threatened to derail her career.
And after conquering the fashion world, starring in films and now launching a music career, Cara says sobriety has finally allowed her to find her own voice.
She said: “I was finding the joy in it. I was finding my voice in it. I was trusting my creative instinct more.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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