Latest news with #Heston'sFeasts
Leader Live
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Leader Live
BBC commissions documentary about TV chef Heston Blumenthal's bipolar diagnosis
The English restaurateur, 58, who presented Channel 4 shows Heston's Fantastical Food and Heston's Feasts, was sectioned following a manic episode and given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in November 2023. The hour-long film, Heston: My Life With Bipolar, follows the aftermath of the chef's diagnosis as he explores the mental health condition and rebuilds his life. The film will also explore the state of bipolar care in the UK as Blumenthal meets people to hear about their experiences and the challenges they face. Blumenthal said: 'It took me 50 years to get a diagnosis, so it's been an extraordinary journey to get where I am today. 'There is still a big stigma around bipolar, but it is vital to be able to talk openly about the condition. I know this isn't always easy, but I hope by sharing my experience in this documentary people will gain a greater understanding of bipolar and an insight into my life now.' Since his diagnosis, the TV personality, who has has been awarded seven Michelin stars over the course of his career, has become an ambassador for Bipolar UK, which describes the condition as an episodic disorder characterised by sometimes extreme changes in mood and energy which has the highest risk of suicide of any mental health condition. Mike Radford, executive producer, said: 'This is the first time Heston has given his account of what happened for a documentary. We're grateful to Heston for giving such a raw and unfiltered view of his life with this condition, which we know impacts the lives of so many people.' Filmed over six months, the film will include testimonies from Blumenthal and some of those closest to him about how his undiagnosed bipolar disorder affected his life and the challenges he faces undergoing long-term treatment for the condition, including its impact on his creativity and energy levels. The chef, best known for his experimental dishes including snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream, has previously said that the medication he has been taking for bipolar initially dulled his culinary imagination. The film captures Blumenthal as he continues on his journey back to health and running his renowned restaurant, The Fat Duck, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. The film is set to air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Thursday June 19.
South Wales Guardian
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- South Wales Guardian
BBC commissions documentary about TV chef Heston Blumenthal's bipolar diagnosis
The English restaurateur, 58, who presented Channel 4 shows Heston's Fantastical Food and Heston's Feasts, was sectioned following a manic episode and given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in November 2023. The hour-long film, Heston: My Life With Bipolar, follows the aftermath of the chef's diagnosis as he explores the mental health condition and rebuilds his life. Heston Blumenthal said 'there is still a big stigma around bipolar' (Ian West/PA) The film will also explore the state of bipolar care in the UK as Blumenthal meets people to hear about their experiences and the challenges they face. Blumenthal said: 'It took me 50 years to get a diagnosis, so it's been an extraordinary journey to get where I am today. 'There is still a big stigma around bipolar, but it is vital to be able to talk openly about the condition. I know this isn't always easy, but I hope by sharing my experience in this documentary people will gain a greater understanding of bipolar and an insight into my life now.' Since his diagnosis, the TV personality, who has has been awarded seven Michelin stars over the course of his career, has become an ambassador for Bipolar UK, which describes the condition as an episodic disorder characterised by sometimes extreme changes in mood and energy which has the highest risk of suicide of any mental health condition. Mike Radford, executive producer, said: 'This is the first time Heston has given his account of what happened for a documentary. We're grateful to Heston for giving such a raw and unfiltered view of his life with this condition, which we know impacts the lives of so many people.' Heston Blumenthal is best known for his experimental dishes (Ian West/PA) Filmed over six months, the film will include testimonies from Blumenthal and some of those closest to him about how his undiagnosed bipolar disorder affected his life and the challenges he faces undergoing long-term treatment for the condition, including its impact on his creativity and energy levels. The chef, best known for his experimental dishes including snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream, has previously said that the medication he has been taking for bipolar initially dulled his culinary imagination. The film captures Blumenthal as he continues on his journey back to health and running his renowned restaurant, The Fat Duck, which has been awarded three Michelin stars. The film is set to air on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on Thursday June 19.
RTÉ News
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- RTÉ News
Heston: My Life with Bipolar coming to BBC Two in June
A new documentary giving a "raw and unfiltered view" of TV chef Heston Blumenthal's life following his bipolar diagnosis has been commissioned by the BBC. The English restaurateur, who presented the Channel 4 shows Heston's Fantastical Food and Heston's Feasts, was sectioned following a manic episode and given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in November 2023. The hour-long Heston: My Life with Bipolar follows the aftermath of the chef's diagnosis as he explores the mental health condition and rebuilds his life. It will also explore the state of bipolar care in the UK as Blumenthal meets people to hear about their experiences and the challenges they face. Blumenthal said: "It took me 50 years to get a diagnosis, so it's been an extraordinary journey to get where I am today. "There is still a big stigma around bipolar, but it is vital to be able to talk openly about the condition. I know this isn't always easy, but I hope by sharing my experience in this documentary people will gain a greater understanding of bipolar and an insight into my life now." Since his diagnosis, the TV personality, who has been awarded seven Michelin stars over the course of his career, has become an ambassador for Bipolar UK. Bipolar UK describes the condition as an episodic disorder characterised by sometimes extreme changes in mood and energy. Mike Radford, executive producer of the documentary, said: "This is the first time Heston has given his account of what happened for a documentary. We're grateful to Heston for giving such a raw and unfiltered view of his life with this condition, which we know impacts the lives of so many people." Filmed over six months, the programme will include testimonies from Blumenthal and some of those closest to him about how his undiagnosed bipolar disorder affected his life and the challenges he faces undergoing long-term treatment for the condition, including its impact on his creativity and energy levels. The chef, best known for his experimental dishes including snail porridge and bacon and egg ice cream, has previously said that the medication he has been taking for bipolar initially dulled his culinary imagination. The documentary follows Blumenthal as he continues on his journey back to health and running his renowned restaurant, The Fat Duck, which has been awarded three Michelin stars.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Heston Blumenthal: My wife sectioning me is the best thing to happen to me
TV chef Heston Blumenthal says he believes that his wife sectioning him is the 'best thing' that could have happened as he pushed for awareness on him living with bipolar disorder. The restaurateur, 58, who presented Channel 4 shows Heston's Fantastical Food and Heston's Feasts, has taken on a role as official ambassador for Bipolar UK, after he was diagnosed with the mental health condition in November 2023. According to the NHS, a person can be detained, also known as sectioning, under the Mental Health Act (1983) and can be treated without their agreement as they 'need urgent treatment for a mental health disorder and are at risk of harm to themselves or others'. Blumenthal opened up about his bipolar symptoms on BBC One's morning programme BBC Breakfast, saying he 'hallucinated a gun on the table', was 'talking about suicide', and 'thought the TV was talking to me'. He added: 'This wasn't all the time, but it was getting greater and greater, and being sectioned was the best thing that could happen to me.' Blumenthal said it 'was really difficult' for his wife, French businesswoman Melanie Ceysson, who he married in 2023. He said: 'She had to decide how I would take it and … my response was, I embraced it, but I never thought I was going to be diagnosed as being bipolar, (and) I thought at the time, the highs and the lows were normal, but they weren't. 'And they weren't right for me, and they weren't right for the people around me that … cared for me.' Blumenthal said that 'there was a 20-year period where (my imagination) was running riot in a positive way', noting his out of the box creations he made while helming the three Michelin-starred restaurant The Fat Duck and making coming up with recipes for bacon ice cream and triple-cooked chips. 'I've also got (behaviour condition) ADHD, and the combination of those two – they compound things,' he added. 'So I don't know how much of my bipolarism, let's say, contributed to all the creativity or not. 'And even though the lows are low, you can have mixed, mixed moments as well. Someone asked the other day: If there was a button I could press to turn off my bipolar – would I press it? No, I wouldn't, because it's part of me.' Blumenthal says when he looks back to before he was sectioned, and realised that 'a lot of things I did were slightly bizarre or quite extreme, and they weren't, they weren't right'. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Heston Blumenthal Team (@thehestonblumenthalteam) He added: 'This is a really big thing, because every person … that has bipolar, there was a big group of people around them that have to live with it, which is a big thing. 'So I thought that everything was was normal, only since the medication, and coming out of hospital, and I've done a lot of work on myself, I can look back and see how extreme things got.' Blumenthal said he was in a 'lucky position to give something back' as he becomes the ambassador for the charity, and hopes to change perceptions in his new role. According to Bipolar UK, bipolar is an episodic disorder characterised by sometimes extreme changes in mood and energy which has the highest risk of suicide of any mental health condition. – Samaritans are available on 116 123 or at or email jo@
