Model and actress Cara Delevingne has opened up about her mother’s struggle with heroin addiction during her childhood. Speaking to Esquire, Cara described how her mother Pandora used to be in and out of hospital when she was a child, something which she only found out the reason behind years later.

Cara DelevingneCara Delevingne has opened up about her mother's addiction problems

“She was sick a lot, in hospital a lot,” she told the magazine. “And there were times when she would leave for quite a long time and I wouldn’t know where she was.” Cara went on to describe how her mother’s absence caused her to stop eating at eight years old.

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“I didn’t feel like I had any control of anything in my life so I just kind of went on a food strike. I was like, ‘I’m not going to eat until someone tells me where she is,” she said. Eventually Cara found out what was wrong with her mother, through her older sister Poppy.

“I remember my sister, Poppy, saying something like, ‘Mum used to do heroin.’ And I was like, ‘What the f**k is that? Like heroes and heroines?’ I was a tiny child. Like, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’

“My mum feels a lot of guilt for everything,” Cara added. “She was an incredible mother, she always had so much love. And I felt like when I was a kid I was kind of like her confidante. I really felt like I understood her and how she was feeling and why.”

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When asked if her mother was doing okay now the 23-year-old explained: “She is now. But it’s a constant up and down. She’ll never be cured, she’ll never be fixed. It’s about all of us learning to communicate about it and constantly support each other.”