Actress and socialite Poppy Delevingne has suggested that the “stigma” of becoming a divorcee was the reason her marriage to businessman James Cook did not end sooner.
The 38-year-old, who is the sister of Cara Delevingne, tied the knot with Mr Cook at St Paul’s Church in Kensington, London, in a 2014 ceremony with a star-studded guestlist.
The two then ended the marriage nearly a decade later.
Delevingne told the Origins With Cush Jumbo podcast that they “will always have a good relationship”.
She added: “There’s a lot of love and respect there. It just no longer worked for us.
“I met him when I was 20 years old and 15 years is a long time and I think 15 years to be with someone is a success and sometimes these things just have to come to an end but even so within that, when it did end, that feeling, it was this sort of like bubbling up of freedom.
“And I think I’ve said this to you before, I felt sort of 20 all over again.”
Delevingne explained that she now feels “fully independent”, and “every decision” is hers.
When asked about stigma associated with divorce, she said: “I couldn’t really believe, yes, and I think that’s why it should have probably ended earlier than it did, and I think one of the reasons why it didn’t is because of that stigma, which is extraordinary.
“I’m quite sad, actually, that we should feel that there’s such a thing about it, that, god she’s divorced, damaged goods, no one’s going to want you.”
She added: “Especially women in their late thirties who haven’t had a baby … It’s not easy to make that kind of a decision. It’s not by any stretch.
“And I think within that, you have to have courage. You’ve got to love yourself, put yourself first, and you’ve got to be happy. We have one shot at life. Oh my god, I chose happiness. I chose me. ”
Delevingne, who appeared in Kingsman: The Golden Circle and Riviera, and has reportedly dated Prince Constantine Alexios of Greece and Denmark, also said the label of being a socialite “completely undermines anything of any worth that I’ve ever done”.
She added: “They want to take me down a peg or two and it’s so frustrating because what even is that? What is a socialite?”
Origins With Cush Jumbo is released on Tuesday.
