Cara Delevingne has opened up about what it was really like to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show at the height of her modeling career, and the complicated feelings she hid throughout her career.
Speaking on the June 3 episode of Call her daddyThe 33-year-old model and actress reflected on her first appearance at the famous show in 2012, a time when she had yet to publicly explore or reveal her sexuality.
She described the experience as both fun and disorienting, like playing dress-up while carrying a secret that she had not yet fully examined herself.
“I was in the closet. I was gay and also [thinking]’Am I the only lesbian to ever do Victoria’s Secret,'” she said.
“I was having a great time, but also very confused. I felt like I was an undercover lesbian.”
Delevingne said she never felt close to womanhood growing up and disliked being a girl in a world where she felt less attached to that identity.
Walking in a miniskirt and stilettos at one of fashion’s most high-profile events meant embodying a version of herself that seemed interpreted rather than authentic.
“Something darker in there” took away from the fun, she said, because she was navigating her identity without clearly knowing where she stood.
She returned for the 2013 show and was invited back in 2016, but declined.
She is now in a relationship with singer-songwriter Leah Mason, known professionally as Mink, whom she met at boarding school and reconnected with twelve years later.
