Cara Delevingne admits she lived a ‘straight lifestyle’ until embracing queerness on Planet Sex

Cara Delevingne has opened up about embracing her queer identity and healing from a “rough year” in a candid interview about the ways her TV show changed her life.

The actor and model’s Hulu docuseries, Planet Sex, explores the hidden world of sex across the globe and uncovers stories of queer subculture.

In the series, Delevingne opens up about her own journey to identifying as “queer” and discusses the different ways queerness is explored, especially in the context of intimacy.

And it seems the show opened the floodgates for Delevingne to understand her own place within the queer community.

“I think any person who’s queer has gone through a period of shame, or at least not understanding who they are and feeling like they don’t belong,” she told Variety. “That was something I’ve always felt.

“I was always queer, yes, but I lived a very straight lifestyle. I wasn’t being a part of the community as much as I wanted to be. Advocating is one thing, but being a part of the community and enjoying and celebrating your own queerness is different.”

In the show, Delevingne delves into topics around masturbation and female pleasure, visits lesbian sex clubs and attends her first ever Pride festival.

The celebrity was “inspired” by her time filming the show and even had more ambitious ideas to show the struggles LGBTQ+ people go through that didn’t make it into the show.

“I wanted to go into a conversion camp and show people what that is,” she admitted, “and do it with them thinking that I actually wanted to convert.”

Conversion therapy is a historic practice weaponised against LGBTQ+ people using inhumane practices to supposedly remove their queerness.

Despite the well-documented effects of the harmful practice, conversion camps are still prevalent across the US, while a UK ban is finally set to be implemented this year.

“I wanted to do harder shit. I wanted to do more gripping things — that maybe wouldn’t be healthy for me — but I wanted to show what that is like,” she concluded.

As for her own mental health, Delevingne made headlines in September last year after fans expressed concerns around her erratic behaviour at an airport and her general worn-down appearance.

When asked if she wanted to address it, she responded: “No, I will address it in time. I’m good. I’m great!

“I had a rough year last year. But you know, my fans, I hope they know how much I take healing seriously. There’s just ways people cope with things in life that maybe aren’t healthy.”

But in an interview with Entertainment Tonight, she added that turning 30 last August has helped with her “healing journey”.

“There was a lot that clicked,” she explained, “I think my 20s were brilliant, but there were a lot of different things I wanted to focus on.

“I think there was a part of me that still felt, like, I was insecure in my teenage years and questioning and a bit of like self-doubt all the time. I’m a lot more gentle with myself and nice to myself and I think something’s changed this year, for sure.”

Delevingne has been open about her mental health struggles in the past, including being removed from school aged 15 following a breakdown.

Speaking about her mental health problems to The Guardian, she said: “I hated myself for being depressed, I hated feeling depressed, I hated feeling. I was very good at disassociating from emotion completely.

“And all the time I was second-guessing myself, saying something and then hating myself for saying it. I didn’t understand what was happening apart from the fact that I didn’t want to be alive anymore.”

And in an episode of Gwenyth Paltrow’s the Goop podcast, she attributed some of her negative feelings to her sexuality.

“I do correlate [understanding my sexuality] to the massive depression and the suicidal moments of my life because I was so ashamed of ever being that,” she explained.

Growing up in a conservative family where she didn’t “know anyone gay”, she added: “I wasn’t knowledgeable of the fact I was homophobic. The idea of same-sex [partners], I was disgusted by that, in myself. I was like, ‘Oh my God, I would never, that’s disgusting, ugh’.”

As Delevingne continues the journey to embracing her authentic queer self, she confirmed she is “100%” ready to do a second season of the show.

Planet Sex is available to watch on BBC Three.