Cara Delevingne recalls 'gay panic' moment with Candice Swanepoel

Cara Delevingne has candidly recalled having a moment of "gay panic" in front of fellow model Candice Swanepoel.

During an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, the model-turned-actress admitted that she felt like "an undercover lesbian" backstage at her first Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in 2012 because she was "in the closet" at the time.

"I was in the closet. I was gay and I was also like, 'Am I the only lesbian that's ever done f**king Victoria's Secret?'" she recalled, before jokingly remembering her thoughts backstage with the lingerie-clad models: "Yeah, shake your asses. You want me to do up your bra? Like 100%!"

The 33-year-old continued, "I was having a great time, but also very confused. I felt like I was an undercover lesbian."

The Paper Towns actress then shared a "weird story" in which she almost "fainted" upon seeing fellow model Candice get undressed.

"I remember seeing Candice Swanepoel... we were in a hotel room eating pizza," Cara began. "She came in the bathroom and took off her clothes - not in a sexual way, that's what models do - and I passed out... Or I was standing up and I had to fall back on the toilet. She was like, 'Are you OK?' I was like, 'Mm-hmm, 100%, I'm fine, are you OK?'"

"It was a lot. The gay panic... I was constantly panicking," she added, referring to the slang term used to describe the panic a person experiences when they feel attraction to someone of the same sex.

Reflecting on her two appearances at the lingerie brand's annual show, Cara noted that it was fun to play "dress-up", but she didn't feel like she belonged there because she didn't have a "womanly" body or consider herself particularly feminine.

Cara was in her first public relationship with a woman - musician St. Vincent - between 2015 and 2016. She then dated actress Ashley Benson for two years and has been dating musician Minke since 2022.