I was selling drugs aged 8 and was hung off a bridge on estate, says England star Dele Alli
ENGLAND star Dele Alli has revealed how he sold drugs aged eight as he opened up on his traumatic childhood.
The midfielder, 27, told how he was hung off a bridge as a kid by an adult as his life spiralled.
Alli revealed the bombshell in an emotional interview on The Overlap with Gary Neville.
The Everton star said: “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.”
Ex-Spurs star Alli wiped back tears as he told how he was sexually abused by his mum’s friend when he was just six.
But he explained how his life turned around when he was adopted by an “amazing” family aged 12.
Alli gushed as he revealed how he “couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they done for me”.
The footballer added: “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.”
But he found himself on a downward spiral again after returning to England from Turkey, where he was on loan at Besiktas.
Alli said he was excessively drinking and consuming sleeping pills.
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.”
Alli has been flooded with support, including from his girlfriend Kimberly.
She wrote on Twitter: “Proud of you.”
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.
While host Neville shared a tweet that called the conversation “the most emotional, difficult yet inspirational conversation I’ve ever had in my life”.