Cara Delevingne on How She and Ashley Benson Fell in Love When They ‘Weren’t Looking For It’

Cara Delevingne and Ashley Benson have kept their relationship of over a year largely private, but Delevingne opened up to Marie Claire a little about how their romance started. The two met in the spring of 2018 on the set of Alex Ross Perry’s Her Smell. Love hadn’t been what they were expecting. “We weren’t looking for it,” Delevingne said. “It was really just very authentic and natural.”

Delevingne talked about her sexuality to the publication, saying she spent years denying her attraction to women because she “didn’t want to feel different, even though from an early age I always felt I didn’t belong.”

Now, she’s proud of the sex positivity that she projects. “I’m not just talking about sex for sex,” she said. “I’m talking about experience, whether it’s abuse or confusion, positive or negative.” She was introduced to the topic at 14. “My mom decided to tell me that Father Christmas wasn’t real. And in the same conversation, she said, ‘By the way, let’s talk about the birds and the bees.’ I was like, ‘This timing is terrible.’”

Delevingne has spoken about her relationship with Benson just once before, at the TrevorLIVE Gala in June. She explained why she went Instagram official with their romance then. “I don’t know—because it is Pride, it’s been 50 years since Stonewall [Riots] happened, and I don’t know. It’s been just about our one year anniversary, so why not?” Delevingne said.

In her acceptance speech there, she also gave a shoutout to Benson, although she didn’t drop her name. “I also have another very special woman in this room to thank, and you know who you are,” she started. “She’s one of the people who help me love myself when I needed it most, and I really needed it. She showed me what real love is and how to accept it, which is a lot harder than I thought.” She ended her speech by calling Benson by a pet name: “I love you, Sprinkles.”