Mood swings fuelled Heston Blumenthal's genius. But the highs got higher and the lows got darker

"We just wanted a relaxing conversation with our dad and we weren't able to have one," says Jack Blumenthal. "It was horrible. And it was constant."

Raw pain is etched on Jack's father's face as he finally realises how his undiagnosed mental illness - and erratic manic behaviour - hurt the ones he loves the most.

In a new BBC documentary, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal is talking to his son for the first time about how he became impossible to live with.

"We'd plan it three weeks in advance, getting prepared just to see you for half an hour," says Jack, who now runs a restaurant himself. "And there was nothing I could do to help you."

Heston wipes a tear away. "I'm sorry," he says.

At the height of his fame in the 2000s, Heston Blumenthal was a culinary icon. Known for bacon-and-egg ice cream, snail porridge, and theatrical dining, he was a big brand worth big bucks. But behind the molecular gastronomy and Michelin stars, his mind was increasingly in turmoil.

For years, he thought he was simply "wired differently".

Heston had long believed his emotional highs and lows were just part of who he was - part of the creative chaos that fuelled his culinary genius. In the early years, his imagination ran riot in a positive way, he says.

But gradually, the depression worsened. The highs became higher and the lows much darker.

He recalls having to "lie on the floor to cope" during the filming of a cooking programme several years ago. At one point, he felt as though his new ideas were like thousands of sweets falling from the sky - and he could only catch a few.

But in late 2023, a manic episode escalated into psychosis. Heston was hallucinating guns and had become obsessed with death.

He was itted to hospital for the first time - and finally diagnosed with bipolar disorder. "How did I get to 57 years-old before I was diagnosed":[]}