Cara Delevingne: 'Sexuality is definitely a spectrum... I like having sex with men, I just don’t date them'
Watch: Cara Delevingne's struggles with her sexuality left her feeling suicidal
Cara Delevingne has spoken openly about her sexuality, revealing she believes it is "definitely a spectrum" and explaining that she identifies as "queer".
In her new documentary series, Planet Sex, the model travels the world in search of answers to some big questions involving sexuality, gender and desire.
The second episode, available now on BBC iPlayer, is entirely dedicated to sexuality which, she explains, was important to her on a personal level as it helped her to have a better understanding of her own "queer" identity.
"I'm on a very personal journey into my own sexuality," she reveals in the documentary.
"You may or may not know I have had relationships with both men and women. But I still struggle with being really open about just how much I love women."
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Speaking about how she personally identifies, the Suicide Squad actor reveals: "I always kind of believed in the no labels thing. I spent a lot of time then saying I'm bisexual and pansexual.
"I am queer. 100% I can tell you that I'm queer. I just don't know what else I can say other than that."
Read more: Inspiring celebrity coming out stories
Within the episode Delevingne tries to get to grips with the number of different terms to describe a person's sexuality, meeting Dr Ronx Ikharia, in the hope of finding out more.
In terms of a definition of the term 'queer' he says: “For me, it’s anybody who is not heterosexual.”
Asked why she identifies with that term in particular, Delevingne tells BBC Three: “Queer felt fluid and free. It didn't put too much pressure on anything I was deciding to be."
Despite having an understanding of her own sexual identity from an early age, Delevingne admits it has taken her a while to be open about it.
“Even though I’ve been queer, I haven’t really been able to live a queer life,” she admits.
“When you are in this job, it stunts a lot of things. I was never really in the community. I never went to Pride, never went to those parties.”
In a bid to address the situation the model visits the Dinah Shore Weekend, a music festival describing itself as “the largest lesbian/queer women event in the world."
Explaining that she experienced “so much love” at the event, Delevingne went on to discuss the impact attending the event had on her.
"I felt accepted as myself for the very first time," she says, explaining that making the documentary as a whole made her feel more connected to the LGBTQ+ community: "I have a lot more queer friends now," she adds.
Read more: Why Jake Daniels coming out as gay is so important for young queer people
Elsewhere in the episode, after exploring some of the theories behind whether people are born or made LGBTQ+, she describes trying to let go of the emotions she felt while trying to understand her own sexuality.
"Growing up with a lot of shame, thinking this isn't normal, this isn't human, but it is," she says.
"I couldn't talk to anyone about it and I definitely had a lot of internalised homophobia and shame. I thought that I was abnormal, everyone else was right and I was wrong because I wasn't like everyone else."
Delevingne says the confusion surrounding her own identity, had an enormous impact on her mental wellbeing, culminating in her questioning whether she wanted to still be here.
"I thought about ending my life multiple times," she says. "But I am so glad I didn't because if I can help any other kids, and that means the world to me, that means the world to that little queer kid that I was."
As well as helping give her a better understanding of her own journey, the star says making the documentary series has "made me want to be louder about what I believe in."
She also hopes it will help others who might also be going through a journey of self-discovery when it comes to their own sexuality.
"It's not like it's changed me, or made me someone else. But me being able to be myself in this situation has been a real revelation," she explains.
"Meeting people from around the world, connecting, listening to their stories, trying to understand their situation and through that, understand more about myself and hopefully ignite or inspire others to have similar conversations.
"This is a really beautiful experience and I'm so grateful for it," she adds.
Read more: Revealed: Percentage of men and women who orgasm every time they have sex
Sexuality isn't the only subject the model is exploring in the eye-opening series. In the first episode of Planet Sex the model also “donates” her orgasm to science, which involves her masturbating at a German lab so technicians can record and analyse her response.
She agreed to the research as part of an investigation into the ‘gender climax gap’, a term used to describe why men are more likely to have an orgasm during sex than women.
Planet Sex With Cara Delevingne is on BBC Three at 10pm this Thursday. All episodes will be released at once onto BBC iPlayer.
