Prince William praises footballer Dele Alli for opening up about mental health: ‘It’s not a sign of weakness’

The Prince of Wales called the Everton midfielder ‘inspirational’ for discussing his experiences of abuse as a child

The Prince of Wales has expressed his support for footballer Dele Alli, who has spoken about his mental health struggles.

Prince William wrote in a tweet: “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,” he concluded.

In an emotional interview, the Everton midfielder Alli, 28, 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.

He laid bare his difficult upbringing before he was adopted by the Hickford family.

Alli also told Gary Neville in The Overlap podcast in partnership with Sky Bet that he has battled a sleeping pill addiction and only came out of rehab last month as he struggled with his mental health.

“[Childhood] is something I haven’t really spoken about that much, to be honest,” he said. “I was sent to Africa [to stay with his father] to learn discipline, and then I was sent back. At seven, I started smoking, [at] eight I started dealing drugs.”

“An older person told me that they wouldn’t stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I’d have the drugs, that was eight. Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate, a man.

“Twelve, I was adopted – and from then, it was like – I was adopted by an amazing family like I said, I couldn’t have asked for better people to do what they’d done for me. If God created people, it was them.”

Alli said he was in rehab for six weeks, adding: “To be honest, I was caught in a bad cycle. I was relying on things that were doing me harm and, yeah, I think I was waking up every day and I was winning the fight, you know, going into training, smiling, showing that I was happy.

“But inside, I was definitely losing the battle and it was time for me to change it because when I got injured and they told me I needed surgery, I could feel the feelings I had when the cycle begins and I didn’t want it to happen anymore.”

He described Everton as being “amazing” and supporting him “100 per cent”. “I’ll be grateful to them forever,” he said.

William has previously opened up about his own struggles with mental health and experiences of PTSD from working as an air ambulance pilot.

Speaking in 2021, the prince said he struggled with his own mental health when working in the air ambulance.

He said: “When I was in the air ambulance, any job I went to with children - that really affected me. For me, it was the relation of my personal life, with the family or the incident I was at. I found that very difficult.”

If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call the NSPCC free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331.

Additional reporting from Press Association