The ex-girlfriend of footballer Dele Alli said “I thought I was going to be killed” when his London home was raided by armed robbers in May 2020.
Model Ruby Mae has spoken for the first time since the incident, where Everton midfielder Alli was attacked and ordered to hand over valuables from his home in Hadley Wood, north-east London.
Mae was watching Netflix thriller Dead To Me while Alli played pool with his friends downstairs when two masked men appeared and failed to rip rings and bracelets off her as she tried to protect their dog Uno, the Sun newspaper reported.
“They roughed up Dele and forced him upstairs with them into the wardrobe area, which is separated from the bedroom,” she told the Sun.
“I couldn’t see the door from the bed but Dele’s friend came up first. They came to me in a panic and I instantly realised something was wrong. His friend wouldn’t have usually come into the bedroom.
“Behind the friend, towards the door was what looked like a silhouette. I was confused and said, ‘Dele?’ and the guy didn’t answer.
“I realised this guy was not the same height or body structure as Dele. He came over to me and was very intimidating.
“He started asking me where everything was while trying to take off my bracelets and rings.”
Mae said she “honestly didn’t know what was going to come next”, describing the incident as movie-like.
The model said she was in “shock” as the robber asked her questions, with her first instinct to “protect the dog”.
She said: “I couldn’t get the jewellery off as I was panicking and holding the dog behind me. I wasn’t answering his requests and I was terrified they were going to hurt Uno.
“I didn’t know whether to tell them or not, and I didn’t even know where everything was. I wasn’t thinking straight.
“It was terrifying. I was just hoping for it all to be over and for us to be safe.”
Mae said the raiders began to panic when they realised how long they had been in the house, and they “jumped the fence out the front and ran away with whatever they had both managed to find”.
“It affected all of us,” she said. “To get burgled is one thing, but to get burgled when you’re in is so scary. All of us were speechless.
“It was all very traumatic. Psychologically, it has had an impact. Being home alone is scarier than it once was.
“Every now and then I still think about it. I can’t believe it happened. It was awful.”
No arrests were made in relation to the incident, the Sun reported.
“It’s a pretty weird feeling knowing the people who did it never got caught and are still out there,” Mae added.
The couple split in 2021, having met at a London bar in 2016.