“My girlfriend has been really wonderful in introducing me to a lot of things and people,” Cara Delevingne tells Elle UK when discussing her relationship with Minke (aka Leah Mason). Cara, 30, credits her romance with Minke, 31, with being one of the reasons that “2023 has been the best year I’ve had so far. [B]eing 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.”
Cara said that she and Minke first met 20 years ago when they were at boarding school. After losing contact, they reconnected at an Alanis Morissette concert last year, and sparks flew. In 2023, Cara and Minke went to LA Pride together. “‘It was fan-tas-tic,” she said of the experience before stressing that now is a time for queer joy. “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.”
During the conversation, Cara also revealed that she desires to become a mom, but not yet. “I’ve got my eggs to freeze. Stuff to figure out,” she says about her busy schedule. She also plans to remove some of her tattoos for a “fresh stop.” She’s also working on a new project – a biopic about novelist Patricia Highsmith, the writer behind The Talented Mr. Ripley novel. The movie will focus on a love triangle between Shailene Woodley’s Highsmith, Cara’s character, and the one played by Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Noémie Merlant.
Earlier in the year, Cara revealed she was sober after checking herself into rehab in late 2022. After her 30th birthday in September, she remembered how paparazzi photos made her look “disheveled and distressed at the Van Nuys Airport.” She hadn’t slept and looked terrible. “You know, sometimes you need a reality check, so in a way, those pictures were something to be grateful for,” she said.
“I was happy as a kid for sure, but I think when I grew up, I looked back and realized, That’s not normal,” she said. “And then, as a teenager, it just all came plummeting down. That’s also when I started drinking and partying.” Cara revealed that she got sober through a 12-step program after past attempts to clean up failed. “This time, I realized that 12-step treatment was the best thing, and it was about not being ashamed of that,” she said. “The community made a huge difference. The opposite of addiction is connection, and I really found that in 12-step.”