Lily Cole keeps herself grounded

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Lily Cole

Lily Cole "checks" herself to stay grounded.

The 25-year-old model - who broke into the fashion industry when she was just a teenager - has been careful to avoid the same pitfalls as other young celebrities by being her own worst critic.

She said: "I try and give 100 per cent to whatever I am doing. But it has to be something I am passionate about.

"I'm constantly checking myself. I know that it only ever makes me happier to try and be a more grounded, real person. And I have really good friends and family."

The redheaded beauty recently took a trip to the Brazilian rainforest for a documentary on the environment and found the experience - in which she encountered impoverished young children - to be humbling.

She told Britain's OK! magazine: "I often crave simplicity. I feel my life, like many westerners, is incredibly complicated but I think the key is to remember what's important - doing what you love, with the people you love, for the reasons you love, and then you reclaim what it means to be alive."