Celebrity chef Bill Granger is well-known for his upbeat personality, yet, as he reveals in an intimate interview with Sue Williams, he has suffered from depression.
Lauded around the world for his happy-go-lucky, laidback Aussie style, award-winning restaurateur and TV chef Bill Granger seems to have it all. His books sell in their millions internationally, his TV shows air in prime-time on the BBC in the UK, he’s about to extend his successful restaurant business to two more cafes in Japan and he’s head-over-heels in love with his wife and three daughters.
Yet behind the ready smile and cheery greetings to regulars as he walks into one of his three busy Sydney cafes at breakfast time on a Monday morning, there lies a hidden pain. For, sitting in a quiet corner over a mineral water, Bill reveals he has battled depression at times in his life.
“Growing up, Mum was in hospital for a long time with depression and I’ve grown up around it. She suffered from sadness she didn’t really know how to escape,” he says, softly. “I was 14 when I had my first depressive episode. A gradual feeling of disconnection and isolation came over me.
I withdrew from school and my friends. I just wanted to retreat. Again, in my 20s, I went through another rough patch. Since then, I’ve just sort of worked through it, through all the ups and downs. I was on medication for a while but there were side-effects, so I’ve avoided using medication since.” Bill has found that eating well, getting enough sleep, exercising and spending quality time with his family have helped him lead a healthy, fulfilling and balanced life. “I make sure I don’t overwork – that’s the biggest mistake you can make,” he says.
It’s a shock to hear the 39-year-old, renowned for his upbeat public personality, confessing to such private demons, but it does explain one of the Australian food industry’s most enduring mysteries.
Feted in New York, London, Paris and Tokyo, with his award-winning cafes, best-selling books and acclaimed TV shows, Melbourne-born Bill is regularly urged to open restaurants all over the globe, yet usually resists. Now it makes perfect sense: Australia’s answer to Britain’s celebrity chef, Jamie Oliver, has turned down most of the offers because of his desire to keep his life as balanced as possible.
“About a year-and-a-half before I met [wife] Natalie, I was going out a lot and doing too much,” he says. “I was smoking dope and drinking too much. I was busy with the restaurants and had a lot of pressure on me, and I’d relieve that pressure by abusing my body, in the way that a lot of people do. It’s quite common.
“I then checked myself into a clinic for a couple of weeks. You can slip so easily into depressive illnesses, so now I know my own signs and have some insight into my own condition. Depression can be a very self-centred disease, so if you can talk about it and be open, it becomes easier. It’s good to be open about it.”
To read more from Bill Granger’s candid interview, see the June issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly, out now.
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