Heston Blumenthal: I planned my own death before being sectioned
Heston Blumenthal has admitted he was 'planning his own death' in the weeks before he was sectioned.
The 59-year-old celebrity chef opened up about the manic episode he experienced before he was sent to a psychiatric ward in November 2023.
He said he hallucinated a gun on the table, heard voices, and was planning out his death.
Blumenthal said some nine people arrived at his house in Provence, France, to take him away as he explained how he was 'pinned down' by authorities.
The renowned restaurateur – who spent 20 days in a ward – told the I'm ADHD! No You're Not podcast of the symptoms he experienced before he was sectioned.
He said: 'I was hallucinating objects so I hallucinated a gun on the table, and drew it.
'I was talking about planning my death, I was hallucinating sounds, so thinking someone's talking over there ... I hallucinated touch.'
Blumenthal was sectioned in November 2023 after his wife Melanie Ceysson called the authorities.
The chef described the moment they arrived at his house to take him away.
He said: 'I was here in the house, I was alone... There was a knock on the door, and there was a policeman.
'I thought that was a bit weird, because in the garden, you've got to jump over a wall to get in here.
'Anyway, I opened the door, he came in, and he was all sort of, you know, armour-plated up, and he seemed like a really nice bloke ... I didn't think what on earth was happening.'
Blumenthal continued: 'Then there's another knock, the door opens, another policeman comes in, he's got a torch on his shoulder ... then there's another knock on the door, and there's a doctor with some kind of assistant, and five firemen.
'So there were nine people there, and they said, 'Oh, we're going to give you an injection or something, and take you to hospital'... I get pinned down on the sofa, my arms are crossed ... and I had two people on each arm, and then I was fighting.
'And then I saw the doctor pull out this massive syringe, and I thought, just go with it, and then I got injected.
'Next thing I wake up in a room, which was basically a cell, with a big grey plastic mattress, I've been undressed, and I got some kind of, I don't know, some pyjama prison outfit on me.'
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