Heston Blumenthal unable to watch TV series The Bear after bipolar diagnosis

Heston Blumenthal said it is “too soon” for him to watch hit TV series The Bear, about the stressful life of a chef running a restaurant in Chicago, because he fears it will be triggering after his recent diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

The TV chef and restaurateur announced he was diagnosed with the mental health condition earlier this year, after previously receiving a positive assessment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in 2017.

The celebrity chef runs restaurants including the three Michelin star Fat Duck, two Michelin star Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Michelin-starred Hind’s Head, and the Perfectionists’ Cafe.

Blumenthal, 58, said he has not been able to watch award-winning series The Bear as it depicts the pressurised atmosphere in the kitchen – starring US actor Jeremy Allen White.

“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,” he told BBC Newsnight’s Victoria Derbyshire.

“I’m hoping that one day I’ll be able to watch it, just at the moment, it’s too soon.”

Blumenthal’s wife Melanie Ceysson said he had not watched the show “because I think it is the biggest trigger for Heston’s condition”.

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition where you have extreme mood changes, according to the NHS website.

During the interview, TV chef Blumenthal said he 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.”

Blumenthal said his diagnosis is “not all doom and gloom”, describing it as “part of who I am”.