Top chef Heston Blumenthal breaks down in tears on The One Show as he reveals his wife was forced to have him sectioned
TOP Chef star Heston Blumenthal has opened up about how his wife “saved his life” by having him sectioned.
Heston, 58, who is married to entrepreneur Melanie Ceysson, is known for a variety of culinary feats including owning the three-Michelin-star restaurant, The Fat Duck in Berkshire, as well as appearing on TV shows such as Top Chef, Kitchen Chemistry, Heston’s Feasts and MasterChef Australia.
The celebrity chef has also been very open about personal life and mental health struggles.
In 2017, Heston revealed that he’d received a positive assessment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). But it wasn’t until last year that he received a truly life-changing diagnosis of bipolar disorder, which he announced publicly in May this year.
Bipolar is a mood disorder characterised by periods of depression or elevated moods. In a segment for The One Show, which aired last night (July 16), Heston opened up about the severe highs and lows he was experiencing.
Beginning the segment, he explained: “As a chef I’ve been called everything from a culinary maverick to a genius. These ideas brought me incredible highs, but I also had some crashing lows.”
He continued: “These recurring highs to lows were getting stronger and stronger and more regular.
“I was on a massive high and had been for several days. I was having hallucinations, feelings of paranoia, and even suicidal thoughts.”
Heston credits his wife Melanie, 36, with saving his life after she was forced to have him admitted to hospital under the Mental Health Act.
“It was my wife Melanie who got me the help I needed after witnessing so many extremes in my behaviour.”
The 36-year-old felt Heston was a danger to himself, likening her husband’s varying moods to “a tornado.”
“It’s when I pushed the red button,” she admitted.
Continuing to share his experience, Heston said: “Melanie made the difficult decision to have me sectioned, which involved me being sedated.
“There was a knock on the door, there’s a policeman, then five firemen and then a doctor with an assistant and I was like ‘What the hell is going on here?’ And then I saw the doctor pulling out this big syringe and then I woke up in hospital.”
Opening up about the situation from her perspective, Melanie said that Heston’s hospitalisation resulted in “the most horrible hours of my life.”
“I realise now looking back on it, it’s horrible for people that care about you. At the end of the day, you saved my life,” Heston added.
The celebrity chef hopes that by sharing his experience, he can educate others or help someone else who is struggling with their mental health.
“Since my diagnosis I’ve learned a lot more about myself, and I’ve realised that a lot of my creativity is thanks to bipolar.
“I’m hoping that talking about it can change the way we see the condition and put it in the spotlight for all the right reasons,” he said, concluding the segment.
Tuesday’s episode of The One Show is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.