Heston Blumenthal thought ‘TV was talking to him’ during crushing health struggle

To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video

Up Next

Previous Page Next Page

Heston Blumenthal has opened up about the symptoms he experienced from having bipolar disorder, including thinking that the TV was ‘talking to him’.

In May last year, the TV chef revealed that he had been diagnosed with the mental health condition, which causes extreme changes in a person’s mood that can last for a few days or a few weeks at a time.

At the time, he said: ‘I hope that being open about my own mental health will raise awareness of the issue and I want to campaign to highlight the contribution neurodiversity can make to the workplace.’

Now, the 58-year-old has shed further light on how the condition has affected his life, saying that being sectioned was the ‘best thing that could have happened’ to him.

On Friday, Heston appeared on BBC Breakfast, where he told presenters Charlie Stayt and Naga Munchetty about his experiences.

‘One of the classic symptoms of bipolar is you can start hallucinating things, so I hallucinated a gun on the table. I was talking about suicide. So you have suicidal thoughts,’ he said while sitting on the sofa in the BBC studio.

Heston Blumenthal said that being sectioned was the ‘best thing that could have happened to me’ (Picture: Ken McKay/ITV/Rex Features/Shutterstock)

‘The actual percentage of people who commit suicide I think is really quite high.’

He continued, stating: ‘I also thought the TV was talking to me. This wasn’t all the time but it was getting greater and greater. And being sectioned was the best thing that could have happened to me.’

Charlie, 62, brought up the fact that it was Heston’s wife, Melanie Ceysson, who had him sectioned.

What is bipolar disorder?

The mental health charity Mind explains that bipolar disorder ‘is a mental health problem that mainly affects your mood’.

The organisation outlines that If a person has bipolar disorder, they’re likely to have times where they experience ‘manic or hypomanic episodes, which means feeling high’, ‘depressive episodes, which means feeling low’, and ‘potentially some psychotic symptoms during manic or depressive episodes’.

The two main forms of treatment for bipolar disorder are medication and talking therapies.

There are several reasons why a person might be sectioned, including if their safety or someone else’s ‘would be at risk’ if they didn’t receive treatment, or if their health could be at risk of ‘getting worse’ otherwise.

For more information on bipolar disorder, you can visit the NHS website here and the Mind website here.

‘I can only imagine… that’s a very, very difficult thing to do I would imagine,’ the BBC presenter said.

Heston responded: ‘For her it was really difficult. She had to decide how I would take it. My response was I embraced it.’

Heston revealed his diagnosis last year (Picture: BBC)

In November, the chef told The Times what it was like when his wife had him sectioned, which occurred the previous year.

‘It took more than a few extreme moments of manic behaviour for my wife to put me in hospital. It got to the point where if she hadn’t done something about it, I wouldn’t be here,’ he told the publication.

‘With all the manic highs and lows, it’s so hard for the people around you. I can’t keep waking her up because I’ve got this idea for an electric mattress that can lead you to the toilet in the middle of the night.’

BBC Breakfast airs every day from 6am on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Need support?

For emotional support, you can call the Samaritans 24-hour helpline on 116 123, email jo@ visit a Samaritans branch in person or go to the Samaritans website.

If you're a young person, or concerned about a young person, you can also contact PAPYRUS, the Prevention of Young Suicide UK.

Their HOPELINE247 is open every day of the year, 24 hours a day. You can call 0800 068 4141, text 88247 or email: pat@

Got a story?

If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us [email protected], calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.