Cole Comes Clean On Cambridge

Lily Cole, supermodel and recent BA (Cantab), revealed that leaving Cambridge has left her “liberated,” and says she came close to not making it.

In an interview in The Sunday Times‘ Style supplement, Lily said she felt “hugely liberated” to be done with her History of Art degree.

“I’m super-glad that I managed to finish it – and semi-surprised,” Cole said in the interview. She also admitted that she almost didn’t finish her degree – a familiar feeling to anyone who’s gone through Tripos.

“The closest I came was the day before my last exam, I was so exhausted. I’d been drinking a lot of coffee. I would never mind not doing the best if I felt like I gave my best effort.”

But Lily, whose motto is apparently “fail gloriously,” did nothing of the sort. She managed to bag a double first in her exams, one of only three handed out in her subject.

Though the supermodel didn’t live in Cambridge, preferring to strut in from her swanky London flat, she made a few colourful appearances in student life.

Last Lent she caused a flap by taking the lead role in The Seagull at the ADC, her first and only appearance in student drama (get top Tab critic Toby Parker Rees’ take on the show here).

Movie star Lily, noted for appearances in St Trinian’s and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus, also kept up her acting career while at Cambridge, notably emerging as a blue sea creature in an episode of Doctor Who.

Now she says she’s trying to “be involved with as many creative projects as I can be.” Projects on the go at the moment include film Snow White and the Huntsman, with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart, modelling and keeping her knitware line going.

Despite her success, Cole remains modest: “I’m no better than anyone else. All I can do is try to relay what I’ve learnt through other people’s work and endeavours.

“No way am I a role model.”

Darling, we’re not so sure.