Heston Blumenthal has admitted he is unable to watch hit chef drama series The Bear as he fears it will be triggering after his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
Blumenthal, 58, who was diagnosed with the mental health condition earlier this year, has not bought himself to watch the award-winning series as it depicts the pressurised atmosphere in the kitchen.
The celebrity chef, who runs several Michelin starred restaurants, said he worked 120 hours a week for the first 10 years of his career, often getting up at 5am and only sleeping for '20 hours in a whole week'.
In an emotional interview with BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire, Blumenthal explained that before being hospitalised and ultimately diagnosed with his condition, he would hallucinate things he could see, hear and touch.
Tearing up the chef described the turmoil of seeing his wife Melanie Ceysson 'suffering' as his condition got increasingly worse.
Choking back tears he said: 'There were moments when I would look at Melanie's face and it clearly it's sad, it's shocked and stressed and I couldn't understand it. Now I can.'
Heston Blumenthal (pictured) has admitted he is unable to watch hit chef drama series The Bear as he fears it will be triggering after his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder
In an emotional interview with BBC Newsnight's Victoria Derbyshire , Blumenthal (left) described the turmoil of seeing his wife Melanie Ceysson (right) 'suffering' as his condition got increasingly worse
Blumenthal has not bought himself to watch the award-winning series (pictured) as it depicts the pressurised atmosphere in the kitchen
Heston lived for 50 years with bipolar without knowing, until he was sectioned by his wife after one serious episode. This led to doctors admitting him to a psychiatric hospital last November, where he stayed for 20 days.
The chef said Melanie ultimately 'saved my life', with doctors later revealing he would have died in a matter of days if he remained in his current condition.
Heston worked 120 hours a week for the first 10 years of his career, 'because I had no choice'. 'I was sleeping 20 hours in a whole week,' he said.
'The restaurant was young, and I was getting up at five o'clock in the morning, going into the kitchen, and then leaving at midnight.
'It didn't really expose itself, my bipolarity, when I was in the kitchen.'
Ms Derbyshire then assumed Heston had been one of the millions of people who had watched the hit Disney plus series, The Bear, which depicts the life of Carmy Berzatto, played by Jeremy Allen White, as he tries to rescue his brother's restaurant.
She said: 'It shows us the pressurised atmosphere in a kitchen. To watch it it's stressful, its unbearable. So I wonder if the restaurant was the best place for you.'
Melanie revealed Heston had not watched the show 'because I think it is the biggest trigger for Heston's condition'.
Heston added: 'There will be lots of connections to me and the Fat Duck (his restaurant) and that show.
'There's a couple of the big chefs that I know, friends of mine, who have been involved in the consulting of it, so it must be pretty accurate
'I'm hoping that one day I'll be able to watch it, just at the moment, it's too soon.'
The Michelin-starred chef's 36-year-old wife described her husband's moods as a 'tornado' and worried that he was a danger to himself
The celebrity cook (pictured) was diagnosed with bipolar one, which is characterised by at least one manic episode
The celebrity cook was diagnosed with bipolar one, which is characterised by at least one manic episode.
Bipolar two involves more regular episodes of depression. Around one in every 100 people will be diagnosed with bipolar disorder at some point in their life.
Many people with the mental health disorder go from one extreme mood to the other. They get episodes of depression and feel very low and lethargic and also suffer mania, feeling 'high' and overactive.
However, unlike healthy mood swings the NHS explains the extremes of bipolar disorder can last for several weeks.
Blumenthal previously told the Financial Times he thinks he has had bipolar disorder for 'such a long time'.
He poses that the sleeplessness he suffered early in his career, when he was sending emails to colleagues before dawn, may have been an early warning sign.
Doctors said the sleepless nights and the state of excitement put a stress on his body that was potentially lethal.
But Blumenthal told the BBC his diagnosis is 'not all doom and gloom', describing it as 'part of who I am'.
He added: 'I am still learning as I am going, to express myself so that maybe I can help other people.'
