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The Prince of Wales has expressed his support for footballer Dele Alli, who has spoken about his mental health struggles. Prince William, in a personal tweet, wrote: “Brave and inspirational @‌dele_official. 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. W”.

In an emotional interview, Everton midfielder Dele fought back tears as he revealed he was sexually abused at the age of six and was dealing drugs by the time he was just eight years old.

In the interview, the England international laid bare his difficult upbringing before he was adopted by the Hickford family – saying he was “molested” at the age of six.

Speaking to Gary Neville on The Overlap podcast in partnership with Sky Bet, Dele said that his childhood isn't something he often speaks about. He revealed his mum was an alcoholic and that he was sent to Africa to stay with his father to "learn discipline".

Alli also revealed he started smoking at age seven and by age eight, he said he was dealing drugs.

He opened up on the podcast and said: “Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate. Twelve, I was adopted – and from then, I was adopted by an amazing family – I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’d done for me. If God created people, it was them."

After signing for Tottenham from MK Dons, Dele enjoyed a fine run of form that culminated in playing a key role in England’s progress to the World Cup semi-finals in 2018. But Dele was still battling in silence off the pitch – leading to a “scary” addiction to sleeping pills and a reliance on alcohol.

Having left Spurs for Everton in 2022, Dele spent last season on loan at Besiktas, but upon returning to England with an injury that required surgery he knew he needed help and then checked into a clinic in the United States.

He then revealed on the podcast that he was in a "bad place mentally" and took it upon himself to go to a "modern-day rehab facility for mental health".

Dele said it was "time" for him to change because he could feel "the feelings" he would have when "the cycle begins" and he didn't want it to happen any more.

Speaking about his decision to seek out mental health help, he said: “I think with things like that, you can’t be told to go there, I think you have to know, and you have to make the decision yourself, otherwise it’s not going to work.

“I went there for six weeks and Everton were amazing about it. They supported me 100% and I’ll be grateful to them forever…I was probably making the biggest decision of my life – something I was scared to do."

He added he was "happy" that he did it and "couldn’t have expected it to go the way it did.” Dele has received support online from former team-mates including Jan Vertonghen and Harry Kane. England captain Kane tweeted: “Proud of @dele_official for speaking out and sharing his experience to try and help others.”

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