DELE Alli has revealed he was sexually abused by a friend of his mum as a child.
The England international made the shock revelation in a bombshell interview after returning to Everton in April.
During an appearance on The Overlap with Gary Neville, he revealed he recently spent time in rehab for sleeping pill addiction.
And opened up about his traumatic experiences as a child.
He said: “When I was six I was molested by mum’s friend… because my mum was an alcoholic.
“That happened at six.”
The Everton star became very emotional and was seen wiping back tears as he opened up about his trauma.
He continued: “And then I was sent to Africa to learn discipline and then I was sent back.
“At seven I started smoking and then at eight I started selling drugs.
“An older person told me they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike so I’d ride around with my football and underneath I’d have drugs.
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“At 11 I was hung off a bridge… by a guy from the next estate. A man.
“By 12 I was adopted but from then it was like I was adopted by an amazing family.
“I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they done for me.
“If God created people it was them – they were amazing and have helped me a lot.
“When I was living with them it was hard for me to open up to them because I felt like it was easy for them to get rid of me.”
It comes as Alli, 27, found himself on a downward spiral after returning to England from Turkey, excessively drinking and consuming sleeping pills.
And in a desperate bid to get himself back on the straight and narrow, he checked himself into a rehab facility.
He explained: “When I came back from Turkey I found out I needed an operation I was in a bad place mentally and I decided to go to a modern day rehab facility for mental health.
“They deal with addiction and trauma. I felt it was time for me.
“You can’t be told to go there – you have to know and make the decision yourself or it’s not going to work.
“I was caught in a bad cycle and things that were doing me harm.”
And he admits he contemplated hanging up his boots three years ago at the age of 24.
The former Tottenham man said: “One morning I woke up and I had to go training.
“I remember staring in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now. At 24. Doing the thing I love.
“For me that was heartbreaking.”
He added: ‘It’s always been me against myself in everything.
“I was winning the fight, showing I was happy. But inside, I was losing the battle.”
Alli’s girlfriend Cindy Kimberly this morning led messages of support after her boyfriend opened up.
She wrote on Twitter: “Proud of you.”
And Prince William congratulated Dele for being “brave and inspirational”.
He said: “Discussing mental health is not a sign of weakness. Let’s keep the conversation going.
“We’re all with you and we wish you the very best.”
James Maddison, who recently signed to Spurs, also shared his support for Alli.
He posted a still from the interview on his Instagram stories, writing “Love you brother” followed by a heart emoji.
Ryan Sessegnon, who played alongside Alli during his time at Tottenham, said: “Love you brother. Proud.”
Spurs captain and England teammate Harry Kane liked the post along with Declan Rice and Kieran Trippier.
While Kyle Walker-Peters wrote: “So proud of you bro, love you.”
How you can get help
Whenever it happened to you, it’s never too late to get support.
If you’ve ever experienced sexual violence or sexual abuse, you can get confidential support from specialists who will listen to you, believe you and understand how hard it is to talk about.
As a victim, you’re entitled to support whether you report the crime or not.
Your rights are set out in full in the Victims’ Code.
Visit gov.uk/sexualabusesupport to see the support on offer.
Overlap host Neville, who coached the star during his time with England and was seen close to tears himself during the interview, shared a tweet afterwards.
He called it “the most emotional, difficult yet inspirational conversation I’ve ever had in my life”.
Alli was one of the first Everton players to return to pre-season training last week.
But manager Sean Dyche recently refused to be drawn on the midfielder’s future shortly after his arrival at Goodison Park.
In April, he said: “He is not here. He has an injury which will keep him out for some time.
“Some of the stuff reported – they know what they should and shouldn’t be doing.
“As a manager, you cannot control everything in their lives.
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“Should we be following them all day? You can only guide them.
“He has an injury which will take a while to sort out – it will be a number of weeks.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
