Heston Blumenthal opens up on his bipolar disorder with hopeful message
The chef's reflections follow the announcement he's closing his two-Michelin star restaurant.
Heston Blumenthal has opened up and delivered an encouraging admission three years after first being diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
The 59-year-old, who owns various Michelin-starred restaurants, was sectioned and diagnosed with the chronic mental health condition in November 2023.
The diagnosis followed an episode of hallucinations, paranoia, and an eerie obsession with death.
During his fortnight stay in hospital, the celebrated chef was given a heavy dose of medication and, 18 months later, he filmed the BBC documentary Heston: My Life with Bipolar while becoming acquainted with the mood-stabilising medicine, lithium.
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Lithium, considered a Gold standard medication, is designed to act as a long-term maintenance treatment for bipolar disorder, and is used to treat and prevent mania.
Now in 2026, it’s understood that the British icon takes less than 10 percent of the medication he was originally prescribed during his hospitalisation.
Speaking to The Times, the British icon described his experience with mental health as a ‘piece of string going up and down like a graph’.
“You have to straighten it out a bit [with medication], so the peaks are less high and the troughs aren’t so low. But that slowed everything down. My mind wasn’t as active," he said.
In recent months, Blumenthal said it feels as if the tide on his creativity is finally changing.
“I would say that my creativity is coming back. More than ever,” the celebrity chef admitted.
“My sadness is replaced with some excitement. I’ll miss being beside the chef on the pass, and looking at the food and thinking I can’t fault it. It’s a really lovely feeling.”
The confession comes amid the announcement that Dinner, situated at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park hotel, will be closing its doors in 2027.
The fine-dining concept opened in 2011 and received its first Michelin star a year later. In 2014, Dinner was granted a prestigious second.
“There are some huge feelings there; sadness. It’s bittersweet, but it has run its natural course,’ Blumenthal explained. “We are effectively tenants in a building and our tenancy is finished.”
Despite Dinner closing up shop next year, Blumenthal will continue running three-Michelin-star Fat Duck in Bray, Berkshire.
The latter features a ‘mindful’ food experience aimed at GLP-1 medication users.
“The Mindful Experience is an expression of more than a decade of Heston’s explorations of our complex relationship with food and how eating can promote contentment, health and wellbeing,” the website reads.
“A way to savour the satisfaction of slowing things down and really experiencing your own gastronomic moment.”
If you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
Topics: Celebrity, Restaurants and bars, UK Food
Ella Scott