Lifestyle Health Cara Delevingne Discusses Sobriety Journey and Recalls Drinking at 8 Years Old: 'What a Crazy Age to Get Drunk' “I used to think drugs and alcohol helped me cope … I feel like I’ve got my power back,” Delevingne said in a new interview By Marina Watts Marina Watts Marina Watts is a Digital News Editor at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Bustle, The US Sun, Newsweek and OK! Magazine. People Editorial Guidelines Published on July 7, 2024 02:12PM EDT Comments Cara Delevingne in London on June 20, 2024. Photo: Dave Benett/Getty Cara Delevingne is opening up about her sobriety journey. In an interview with The Sunday Times published on July 7, the model discussed her past struggles with substance abuse, telling the reporter that when they met in 2001, she "got drunk that day." “I was eight, what a crazy age to get drunk," Delevingne, 31, admitted. She also spoke about the massive fire that engulfed her Los Angeles home in March, causing the roof of the one-of-a-kind house to collapse. “It sucks but everyone was safe and, like anything, if I’d not been sober I would still be reeling over that," added Delevingne, whose cats were rescued by firefighters and survived the incident. Cara Delevingne in Paris on June 23, 2024. Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Cara Delevingne Celebrates Second Anniversary with Girlfriend Minke: 'Here's to Many More Years' "It would still affect me really deeply. Of course it affected me, it’s super sad," she said. "It never won’t be. But I don’t use it as a tool to keep myself sad.” In the interview, she also discussed how she felt about constantly going out. “I used to think drugs and alcohol helped me cope … but they didn’t, they kept me sad and super depressed. I feel like I’ve got my power back and I’m not being controlled by other things." However, she has no issue being with friends who are drinking while out together at parties, festivals or other places. Cara Delevingne in London on March 28, 2024. Dave Benett/Getty Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Carnival Row star now attends festivals sober. When she went to Glastonbury sober, she said, "It smelt bad, my feet hurt and I didn’t stay up so late, but it was just as much fun. I never want my life to change in that way.” She also reflected on the paparazzi photos following the 2022 Burning Man festival that gave her a wake-up call and how it, in part, encouraged her to get sober. “Listen, I signed up for this, this is my job, it’s what I do. But without that would I be sober now? I would have never been Sally Bowles in the West End, I’m super proud of that,” she said of her recent role in Cabaret in London's West End. Cara Delevingne in London on Feb. 18, 2024. Jed Cullen/Dave Benett/Getty Cara Delevingne Tells Those on Their Sobriety Journey 'You're Not Alone' Delevingne has been candid about her sobriety journey in the past. She told Vogue for their April 2023 cover about the 12-step program she enrolled in. "This process obviously has its ups and downs, but I've started realizing so much," she said. "People want my story to be this after-school special where I just say, 'Oh look, I was an addict, and now I'm sober and that's it.' And it's not as simple as that. It doesn't happen overnight," she continued. "Of course I want things to be instant — I think this generation especially, we want things to happen quickly — but I've had to dig deeper," Delevingne concluded.