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Daily Mail
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Heston Blumenthal breaks down in tears and issues poignant apology as son reveals the devastating impact of his bipolar battle on family
Heston Blumenthal broke down in tears and apologised as his son revealed the devastating impact of his bipolar battle on their family. The popular TV chef, 59, is well known for presenting Channel 4 shows Heston's Fantastical Food and Heston's Feasts. Heston was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in November 2023 after he began experiencing hallucinations, mania and even suicidal thoughts. Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder which causes unusual and often sudden changes in mood and energy levels. The English chef and restaurateur's new BBC show, Heston: My Life With Bipolar, is set to hit screens on Thursday evening at 8pm and follows Heston as he explores the impact the condition has had on his life. Heston previously told how his wife French entrepreneur Melanie Ceysson, 36, made the brave choice to have him sectioned - which he has since said 'saved my life'. During the programme, Heston sits down with his son, Jack, 32, and the pair discuss the impact bipolar had on the chef's relationship with his children. Jack admitted the family 'found it difficult' but that it felt positive to know what caused the issues now Heston has been diagnosed. 'We just wanted a relaxing conversation with our dad, and we weren't allowed to have one,' Jack said. Heston interjected: 'Because I just didn't stop talking...' His son agreed and added: 'You didn't want to know anyone's thoughts, I just don't think you gave a s**t.' Jack confessed the condition made it difficult to speak and interact with his father. He explained: 'It always started off really well for a few minutes and then it just turned... I had to walk away sometimes, I had to go 'we're not doing it' and every time we tried to hype ourselves up to come and see you.' 'I'm so sorry,' Heston said, as he looked emotional. Jack revealed the amount of preparation it would take to meet with his dad in the past. 'We'd plan it three weeks in advance, mentally just getting prepared just to see you for half an hour. It was horrible and it was constant,' he described. Heston teared up and tenderly took his son's hand. 'Talking about this, this happened,' the TV star said, pointing to his tearful eyes. 'And I realise it's not me being bipolar, well it is me being bipolar, it's damaging the people I love, the people around me. So I'm sorry.' His son replied: 'I know, and I don't think you have to say that, because we know you were kind of in a bit of a world of your own at certain points and this conversation needed to be had, didn't it?' 'I just want you to know that I love you, I forgive you for everything and I'm really proud to me your son,' Jack added. The chef emotionally apologised again and said: 'I want to thank you, thank you for this. I want you to know how sincerely sorry I am. I love you, I love you, my children so much and I can see it now.' The pair then shared a hug. The documentary also looks into the state of healthcare for those with bipolar in the UK, with Heston talking to others who also have the condition about their experiences. He said: 'I was living with undiagnosed bipolar for many years, 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.' Heston, who has an impressive seven Michelin stars, became an ambassador for Bipolar UK in February. The charity describes the mental health condition as an episodic disorder characterised by potentially extreme changes in energy and mood. It carries the highest suicide risk of any mental health condition. Bipolar UK estimates more than one million adults in Britain have the disorder - which is 30 per cent more than the number of people with dementia. But it is thought some 56 per cent of those living with bipolar in the UK do not have a diagnosis. It comes after a heart-wrenching tell-all interview Heston gave to This Morning in March, recounting his suicidal thoughts and how he hallucinated about guns. The chef spoke about his mental health struggles to presenters Cat Deeley, 48, and Ben Shepherd, 50, to mark bipolar awareness month. He is keen to raise awareness about the condition, explaining the figures about the high number of people living with it in the UK - along with the significant proportion of those who are undiagnosed. The food critic explained before his diagnosis, he had stepped away from cooking and had a bit more time on his hands, which meant manic episodes became more prevalent. Heston said on the ITV show: 'In the darker moments, there was suicidal thoughts... 'I realised afterwards, it's quite a classic symptom of being in a mania stage you can hallucinate sound, smell, touch. I saw a gun on the table. 'I told my wife, which obviously, for me, it all seemed quite normal. I looked back at it, there was nothing normal about it.' Heston wants to break the stigma surrounding the disorder and confessed that he had 'no idea' he had it. He explained: 'It was about 13/14 months ago when I was sectioned. 'I got the diagnosis. I had no idea. I was diagnosed with ADHD in 2017, so there is quite a big cross over with ADHD and Bipolar. There are similar symptoms. 'I really didn't think about it until having sort of manic highs and dropping to these lows. 'When you're on these manic highs, you get this sense of I don't know, you think I'm superman, everything is beautiful. 'Then something happens, it's a bit like an an overreactive child that's really having a great time, then someone moves something and then they have a mini tantrum. 'Then you can go into these sort of darker moments.' Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is a behavioural condition defined by inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsiveness. The restaurant owner also praised his wife Melanie for having him sectioned: 'It was the best thing that could have happened to me.' Cat said: 'That is very brave of her.' 'She didn't know if I'd blame her so much, that there was resentment build it,' he continued, 'But it saved my life.' After two months of hospitalisation he was put on medication 'that is continually being tweaked'. Heston said: 'I can look back and think blimey, those highs and lows, now I am definitely in the process of stabilising.' If you have been affected by this story, contact Mind on 0300 123 3393 Heston: My Life With Bipolar airs on BBC Two on June 19 at 8pm and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. WHAT IS BIPOLAR? Bipolar disorder is a brain disorder which causes unusual and often sudden changes in mood and energy levels. WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS? Moods of those with bipolar disorder range from periods of extreme elation and energy (known as a manic episode) to periods of extreme somberness and lack of energy (known as a depressive episode). HOW IS IT DIAGNOSED? According to the International Bipolar Foundation, sufferers are diagnosed with rapid cycling if they have four or more manic, hypomanic, or depressive episodes in any 12-month period. This severe form of the condition occurs in around 10 to 20 percent of all people with bipolar disorder. WHAT CAUSES IT? Currently it is unknown what is the cause of bipolar disorder, which affects around 5.7 million US adults aged 18 or older.
BBC News
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Heston Blumenthal: Mood swings fuelled the chef's genius. But the highs got higher and the lows got darker
"We just wanted a relaxing conversation with our dad and we weren't able to have one," says Jack Blumenthal. "It was horrible. And it was constant."Raw pain is etched on Jack's father's face as he finally realises how his undiagnosed mental illness - and erratic manic behaviour - hurt the ones he loves the a new BBC documentary, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is talking to his son for the first time about how he became impossible to live with."We'd plan it three weeks in advance, getting prepared just to see you for half an hour," says Jack, who now runs a restaurant himself. "And there was nothing I could do to help you."Heston wipes a tear away. "I'm sorry," he says. 'Wired differently' At the height of his fame in the 2000s, Heston Blumenthal was a culinary icon. Known for bacon-and-egg ice cream, snail porridge, and theatrical dining, he was a big brand worth big bucks. But behind the molecular gastronomy and Michelin stars, his mind was increasingly in years, he thought he was simply "wired differently".Heston had long believed his emotional highs and lows were just part of who he was - part of the creative chaos that fuelled his culinary genius. In the early years, his imagination ran riot in a positive way, he gradually, the depression worsened. The highs became higher and the lows much recalls having to "lie on the floor to cope" during the filming of a cooking programme several years ago. At one point, he felt as though his new ideas were like thousands of sweets falling from the sky - and he could only catch a in late 2023, a manic episode escalated into psychosis. Heston was hallucinating guns and had become obsessed with was admitted to hospital for the first time - and finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. "How did I get to 57 years-old before I was diagnosed?" he asks. I recently sat down with world-renowned psychiatrist Prof John Geddes to watch a new BBC new documentary I'd been collaborating on - "Heston: My Life with Bipolar".In the programme there's a clip of Heston being interviewed by the BBC in 2020 about using robots in the kitchen. He uses surreal, nonsensical metaphors: "I want to put the shadow back into the sunlight, I want to put the inside out back into the outside in… I want to put the being back into the human."Watching the interview, Prof Geddes says it's clear Heston was "in the midst of mania" at the time. "If I'd seen that then I would have immediately thought, 'That is a sick man'," he high-octane celebrity chef's environment allowed his erratic behaviour to thrive. His eccentricity wasn't only accepted, but celebrated. His brand flourished, nurturing the capricious genius, and he was supported by a team that kept him functioning. But at home there was no such infrastructure - no such from Bipolar UK suggests that for every person with bipolar disorder, a further five family members - like Heston's son Jack - are profoundly affected."Families fall apart because of the mania more than the depression," says Prof Geddes. Lithium lifeline During six months of filming, Heston's psychiatrists wean him off the cocktail of pills prescribed to him after his hospital visit, and he is moved onto the mood-stabilising medicine, isn't an easy process. Changing medications can offer trigger extreme reactions, so to do it on camera is Heston is subdued. He says the antipsychotics and antidepressants make him feel "zombified" and his memories are as time passes his mood lifts, his energy returns, and he regains some of his old swagger. Lithium is working for him - and you start to recognise the Heston of years gone the end of filming the documentary, Heston is keen to ask me about my own research into bipolar care in the man I speak to is definitely still Heston - obsessing over the perfect peppercorn ratio - but now he's calm, focused, and Geddes isn't surprised."Lithium is the gold standard of care, but in the UK we don't use it enough," he says. "It requires careful management from GPs and psychiatrists. In the NHS, the system simply can't keep up - that's probably one of the reasons why lithium use is falling in the UK, when it should be rising."The UK has a stark shortage of psychiatrists and mental health professionals so patients face waits that often stretch over years. On average it takes someone more than nine years to be diagnosed with bipolar disorder from first contact with a my many interviews about the disorder, I heard psychiatrists describe bipolar patients as "ghosts in the system", "the ones that fell through the cracks" and simply as "forgotten" or "let down".Lithium use, and timely access to psychiatrists are both directly linked to a reduction in suicidal thoughts in people with bipolar disorder. In the UK, death by suicide is rising for people living with the illness. This bucks all other downward trends for suicide. Learning to live with the fire Heston's diagnosis came only after he became a danger to himself - hallucinations, paranoia, and eventually a call from his wife to emergency weeks spent in a mental health clinic, and a year of medication and rebuilding his mind, given the choice Heston says he wouldn't turn off his bipolar disorder if he could. It is a part of him. This answer captures the essence of his journey - of learning to live with the fire, not extinguish it."Someone living with bipolar cannot be separated from it - their personality is entirely and intrinsically connected to the condition," says Prof Geddes. "Treatment doesn't erase it, but it does make the mood changes manageable and helps a person function within their ecosystem - with their family, friends and job."Heston's journey mirrors that of many: misunderstood mood swings, delayed diagnosis, and the long road to balance. But it's also a story of identity, resilience, and the power of clarity after culinary world once masked his illness. Now, it gives him a platform to speak out - and he's using it. If you have been affected by any issues in this report, help and support is available at BBC Action Line.
