Dele Alli: Everton footballer reveals he was sexually abused aged six
Footballer Dele Alli has revealed he was sexually abused when he was six years old.
The former England star, 27, told Gary Neville’s YouTube channel The Overlap: “At six I was molested by my mum’s friend who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic.”
The Everton footballer opened up about his difficult childhood and how it pushed him to attend a rehab facility in the US.
“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.
“At 11 I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate. A man.”
But Alli said his life changed when he was adopted by “an amazing family” at 12 years old.
“I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they done for me,” he said.
“If God created people it was them – they were amazing and have helped me a lot.”
Alli said his childhood trauma played a part in his decision to enter a rehab facility for six weeks in recent months.
“It got to a point where I was in a bad place, a lot of things had built up.
“We all have emotions and we think the best thing to do sometimes is to just stuff them down and hide them and lock them away but over time they just build up and it gets to a point where we’re human and it breaks and it all comes out and I turned to all the wrong things.”
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Dele Alli was speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap YouTube channel
He added: “A lot happened when I was younger that I could never understand.”
He said going to rehab was the “biggest decision of my life [and] something I was scared to do”.
The former Tottenham and England midfielder admitted he was addicted to sleeping tablets and had previously turned to excessive drinking.
Dele Alli
“I was caught in a bad cycle, I was relying on things that were doing me harm.
“It’s been going on for a long time without me realising it, I was doing [it] to numb the feelings I had – I didn’t realise I was doing it for that purpose,” he said.
“It’s probably a problem not only I have, I think it’s going around more than people realise in football.”
Dele Alli
“I’ve definitely abused [sleeping tablets] too much. It got really bad at some points and I didn’t understand how bad it was but I was never dealing with the root of the problem – when I was growing up, the traumas I had, the feelings I had – I tried to deal with it all by myself,” he said.
“I lost myself for a few years.”
Alli was a key part of the England squad that reached the semi-finals of the World Cup in 2018 and helped Tottenham reach the Champions League final a year later.
However, he suffered a dip in form and left Spurs to join Everton in February 2022 before going on a loan spell to Turkish side Besiktas last season.
Alli said he considered hanging up his boots three years ago at the age of 24.
“One morning I woke up and I had to go training.
“I was in a bad place. I was literally staring in the mirror and I was asking if I could retire now. At 24. Doing the thing I love.
“For me that was heart-breaking.”
The Overlap host Gary Neville said on Twitter the interview was “the most emotional, difficult yet inspirational conversation I’ve ever had in my life”.
Alli returned to pre-season training at Everton last week.
An Everton spokesperson said the club “has been supporting Dele in both his return to fitness and overcoming the personal challenges highlighted in his interview with The Overlap”.
“Everyone at Everton respects and applauds Dele’s bravery to speak about the difficulties he has faced, as well as seek the help required. The physical and mental welfare of all our players is of paramount importance.
“The club takes very seriously its responsibility in protecting the confidentiality of players and staff. Dele will not be conducting any further interviews in relation to his rehabilitation, and we ask that his privacy is respected while he continues his recuperation from injury and receives the full care and support needed for his physical and mental wellbeing.”
If you’ve been affected by this story and want to talk to someone, you can call the Samaritans free on 116 123 or at jo@samaritans.org
Palestine Action can still challenge the decision to ban the group under anti-terror laws after the government lost an appeal.
The group was “proscribed” in July, making it illegal to show any support or affiliation for it, following incidents that included breaking in to an RAF base.
The Home Office appealed after a court granted the group’s co-founder a judicial review and said the ban disproportionately interfered with freedom of speech and assembly.
A woman is led away by police during Palestine Action protest on 6 September. Pic: PA
It said the government should also have consulted the group first.
Despite the ban, nearly 900 supporters were arrested at a single protest in London last month.
The judicial review of the ban was scheduled to begin on 25 November and Friday’s Court of Appeal decision means it can still go ahead.
Palestine Action called it a “landmark victory” and said co-founder Huda Ammori had also been granted permission to appeal on two further grounds.
Reacting after the court’s decision, Ms Ammori called the ban “absurdly authoritarian” and “one of the most extreme attacks on civil liberties in recent British history”.
She said 2,000 people had been arrested since it was outlawed and arresting “peaceful protesters” under the Terrorism Act was a misuse of resources.
The group’s vandalising of aircraft at Brize Norton in June – with two activists reportedly entering on electric scooters – prompted a security review of UK defence sites.
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Supporters of the group vandalised aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in June
Its supporters have carried out numerous protests in the UK, with many involving vandalism and violence.
Last year, it smashed windows and sprayed red paint on Barclays branches and this summer vandalised a Bristol defence technology firm, allegedly assaulting staff and police.
Multiple rallies for the group have taken place in London since July’s ban, with hundreds detained for showing support.
A protest at the start of this month saw another 492 people arrested despite calls for the event to be scrapped after the Manchester synagogue terror attack.
The King will become the first British monarch to pray publicly with the Pope since the Reformation 500 years ago during a state visit to the Holy See next week.
The King and Queen will meet the new pontiff Pope Leo XIV at the Apostolic Palace, his official residence, next Thursday during their trip to Vatican City.
In a highly significant moment in relations between the Catholic Church and Church of England, of which His Majesty is Supreme Governor, the King and Queen and the Pope will attend a special ecumenical service in the Sistine Chapel celebrating the ongoing work towards unity and cooperation among different Christian churches.
The decision for the King and Pope to pray together during the service will be the first time a monarch and the pontiff have joined together in this type of moment of reflection in the 500 years since the Reformation when, in 1534, King Henry VIII declared himself as head of the Church of England and broke from the papal authority of the Rome Catholic Church.
In another historic step, the King will be made “Royal Confrater” of the Abbey of St Paul’s Outside the Walls.
The abbot of the community and the archpriest of the basilica wished to confer the title and received the Pope’s approval to do so. To mark the occasion a special seat has been made decorated with the King’s coat of arms.
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The King will use it during the service, after which it will remain in the apse of the basilica for future use by His Majesty and his heirs and successors.
English Kings had a particular link with The Papal Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls until the Reformation. It is also known as the Papal Basilica where reconciliation, ecumenism and relationships across the Christian faith are celebrated.
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King to pray with Pope
A spokesperson for the Church of England said: “The royal confrater title, whilst it confers no duties or obligations on the King, and makes no changes whatsoever to the formal, constitutional and ecclesiastical position of His Majesty as the Supreme Governor of the Church of England, it is a tribute to his majesty and his own work over many decades to find common ground between faiths and to bring people together.”
The trip comes during the Catholic Church’s 2025 Jubilee year. Held traditionally every 25 years, “Pilgrims of Hope” is the theme of this jubilee.
The King and Queen met the late Pope Francis in April. Pic: Reuters
The visit will also reflect the joint commitment from both Pope Leo and the King to protect nature and their shared concern for the environment. The service at the Sistine Chapel will have the theme of “Care for Creation” and they will attend a meeting on sustainability.
A spokesperson from the Foreign Office said: “At a time of growing instability and conflict, the UK’s relationship with the Holy See is more important than ever. The Holy See is a key international actor.
“We work with the Holy See to promote human dignity, to promote peace and combat climate change… so His Majesty’s visit will strengthen the UK’s relationship with this crucial and influential global partner.”
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Only in 1961 did Queen Elizabeth II became the first British monarch since the Reformation to make an official visit to the Holy See.
In April of this year, a royal visit had to be cancelled due to the ill health of Pope Francis, but both the King and Queen did meet him privately while on a trip to Rome. It is understood Pope Leo and the King have been actively engaged in how this reorganised visit will look and the themes it will cover.
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