Dele Alli Talks About Childhood Sexual Abuse, Dealing Drugs And Rehab In Interview With Gary Neville

Everton footballer Dele Alli has said that he was sexually abused at the age of six by a friend of his mother.

Dele, 27, gave an emotional interview to Gary Neville earlier this month, shortly after spending six weeks in a rehab facility in the USA.

He had checked himself into rehab for mental health issues and to try to process his childhood trauma.

Dele also revealed to Neville that he had become addicted to sleeping pills but that he was no longer abusing prescription drugs following his time in rehab.

The interview was posted on Neville's YouTube channel, The Overlap, on Thursday.

Back in 2016, Dele asked to be referred to by his first name due to feeling "no connection" to the Alli surname.

Dele had been raised from the age of 12 by the parents of his friend and fellow MK Dons youth player Harry Hickford.

Neville asked Dele about his childhood and was brought to tears by his response.

Dele said: "It's something that I haven't really spoken about that much to be honest. I think there were a few incidents that can give you a brief understanding.

"At six, I was molested by my mum's friend, who was at the house a lot. My mum was an alcoholic. That happened at six.

"Then I was sent to Africa to learn discipline and then I was sent back.

"At seven, I started smoking. Eight, I started dealing drugs, selling drugs. An older person told me that they wouldn't stop a kid on a bike so I'd ride around with my football and underneath I'd have the drugs.

"At 11, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.

"Then at 12 I was adopted. I was adopted by an amazing family. I couldn't have asked for better people, to do what they did for me... if God created people it was them. They were amazing and they've helped me a lot.

"When I started living with them it was hard for me to really open up to them, because I felt within myself that it would be easy for them to get rid of me. So I tried to be the best kid I could be, for them.

"I stayed with them from 12 and then started playing in the first-team [for MK Dons] at 16 and then it all took off from there."

Dele Alli pictured during an interview with Gary Neville on The Overlap YouTube channel

YouTube/The Overlap

Dele was signed by Tottenham Hotspur in February 2015 at the age of 18.

He made his Spurs debut in August later that year and quickly took the Premier League by storm.

By the end of 2015, Dele had played four times for the England national team. Neville was working as a coach with England when Dele made his international debut.

Dele went on to earn 37 senior caps but he has not played for England since 2019.

After scoring 67 goals in 269 games for Tottenham, Dele joined Everton in January 2022.

Dele pictured playing for Tottenham against Ajax in a UEFA Champions League semi-final in May 2019

IMAGO/ANP/Maurice van Steen

He had been a key player at Spurs under Mauricio Pochettino but fell out of favor after Jose Mourinho became manager in November 2019.

Mourinho famously called Dele a "*****g lazy guy in training", in front of both his teammates and cameras that were filming a documentary for Amazon Prime.

Dele told Neville that Mourinho later apologized for his comment but this apology was not featured in the documentary.

"He called me lazy – that was the day after recovery day," Dele explained. "A week later, he apologized to me for calling me lazy because he'd seen me actually train and play. But that wasn't in the documentary, and no one spoke up about that because it was only me and him.

"In the team meeting, he called me lazy but then one on one, I think it was on the pitch he apologized for it. And I didn't think anything of it at the time because I know myself – I'm not lazy.

"What you see sometimes isn't the way it really is. I think, especially now with social media and all these things, we can really portray something that isn't real. After that, I think people definitely tried to use that, for some other decisions.

"I think other coaches maybe, for other reasons why I wasn't playing, they stuck to that – lazy one – because it was kind of an easy, easy one to use. And the problem was probably more than that, I think."

Being dropped by Mourinho had a huge impact on Dele, who told Neville that he considered retiring aged 24 as a result.

Dele recently returned to Everton after a frustrating loan spell in Turkey with Besiktas.

He came back carrying an injury but his mental health was also in a bad way, so he flew to the United States and checked into rehab.

"Now is probably the right time to tell people," Dele said. "It's tough to talk about it as it's quite recent and something I've hid for a long time and I'm scared to talk about.

"When I came back from Turkey I found out I needed an operation.

"I was in a bad place mentally. I decided to go to a modern rehab facility that deals with addiction and mental health and trauma. I felt it was time for me.

"You can't be told to go there, you have to make the decision yourself.

"I was in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm. I was waking up every day, winning the fight going into training every day smiling - willing to show I was happy.

"Inside I was losing the battle and it was time to change. When I was told I needed surgery I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle began.

"So I went there for six weeks. Everton were amazing and supportive and I will be grateful to them for ever. For them to be so honest and understanding I couldn't ask for anything more during a time I was making the biggest decision of my life - doing something I was scared to do. I'm happy I've done it."

Dele was full of praise for the way that Sean Dyche has supported him since becoming Everton manager earlier this year.

"We have had some good conversations, not so much about football at this point because obviously I'm still injured, but about where I'm at," Dele added.

"And I'd like to say a big thanks to him as well. I think for someone that didn't really know me, for this to be thrown on him and to be so understanding and not even just understanding, we had a good conversation and, like I said, he was supportive.

"Right now, it's just about getting back on the pitch and showing him what I can do, and the talks were more about what I've done in terms of the rehab and how I'm feeling, which is a normal question for people to have, I think. So yeah, a lot of the talks so far have been about that, and then, yeah, I just need to get back fit which isn't too long away.

"I'm feeling good in that sense, probably another few weeks and then I can get back playing and enjoying football. So, I'm ready for a big season and I'm more prepared to deal with any challenge that comes with it."