Great British Bake Off season 15 winner Georgina Grasso has revealed she has been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder, describing the news as scary in an emotional mental health update.
The 34-year-old former nurse and content creator, who became the first Welsh winner of the U.K. television cooking competition in 2024, shared details of her condition on Instagram on Aug. 16.
"I keep saying to myself 'I’ve got bipolar' trying to figure out what that means," Grasso captioned her post. "I know im still me. But everything I thought I knew about my mental health, isn’t what I thought it was."
Grasso explained that confirmation of having bipolar II came as a shock, despite her doctor mentioning it as a possibility last year. "It feels scary, and it's taking me a while to absorb," she said.
Bipolar II Diagnosis and Symptoms
Bipolar II disorder is a mental health condition marked by alternating periods of depression and hypomania without experiencing full manic episodes, according to the Cleveland Clinic, a non-profit American academic medical centre. Grasso recounted having four severe hypotonic or manic episodes over the last eight years, with the last one occurring last year, alongside being clearly in a depressive episode for the last couple of months. "What scares me most is I have no control over anything I’m doing and it’s tunnel vision," she wrote.
Receiving an accurate diagnosis in her 30s after previously being misdiagnosed with ADHD provided much-needed clarity. "Lots of things make more sense," Grasso said, citing her past struggle to hold down jobs and fluctuating work performance when creating content. "Why for periods I’m amazing at my now job at content creating, then for weeks and months I physically cannot do anything. It gives me a bit of relief."
Grasso hopes medical treatment will make her stable so she can continue supporting her three children, who are also on the autism spectrum, though she admitted her medications come with side effects that worry her. While hoping to eventually share her highs and lows with her community, the mental health advocate added, "I’ve got loads to learn about bipolar and am in no position to be spreading awareness about it until I know a lot more."
Musicians on Schizophrenia, Therapy and PTSD
Rapper Gucci Mane, whose real name is Radric Davis, revealed in his October 2025 book Episodes: The Diary of a Recovering Mad Man that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder following a mental health episode in 2020. Speaking on The Breakfast Club, he recalled how his wife, Keyshia Ka'Oir, being pregnant with their son inspired him to seek therapy and medication for the sake of his family, including children Ice Davis and Iceland Ka'oir Davis. "I don’t want to raise a family and then my mental health is gone," he said.
Grammy-winning singer Lorde told Rolling Stone in May 2025 that an eating disorder and stage fright led her to undergo MDMA and psilocybin therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder. "I was touring without stage fright for the first time," Lorde said, noting that stopping birth control also expanded her understanding of her gender by moving off the map of regulated femininity.
Singer Demi Lovato has similarly integrated her journey with addiction, sobriety, and mental health into her music, offering a reminder to fans on Instagram: "A reminder to anyone struggling out there - this life is a journey with tons of ups and downs but you can't give up."
Actor Experiences with Body Image and OCD
Gossip Girl actor Penn Badgley detailed his experience as a child actor with body dysmorphia. "I know that I hated my body," Badgley told The Guardian in April 2025, adding that weight gain following his parents' divorce pushed him into depression and isolation before spirituality allowed him to persevere through inner transformation.
Former Scrubs star Eliza Coupe discussed her past relationship with food, over-exercising, and bulimia on The Funny Thing Is podcast. Speaking to Bon Appétit in 2017, Coupe explained that cutting out sugar, quitting alcohol, and finding yoga at age 23 helped her handle physical and body image issues naturally.
Country singer Carly Pearce shared insight into her yearslong struggle with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) on Bunnie Xo's Dumb Blonde podcast in August 2025. Pearce revealed that while she previously attributed her anxiety to her divorce during the pandemic, she has experienced crippling OCD since age six or seven, prompting a return to therapy after years of suppressing symptoms.
Navigating Anxiety, Panic Attacks and Depression
Model Kendall Jenner spoke on Good Morning America about her experiences with recurring panic attacks and anxiety, explaining that getting the necessary information led her to partner with designer Kenneth Cole for The Mental Health Coalition to help others feel less alone.
Pop star Ariana Grande responded to a Twitter joke about her therapist by emphasizing that therapy has saved her life multiple times. "If you're afraid to ask for help, don't be," Grande wrote. "u don't have to be in constant pain & u can process trauma." Meanwhile, Euphoria star Zendaya recalled experiencing anxiety after a microphone failure on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2013, advising that sometimes people must step back to stop feeling stressed.
Actor Dwayne Johnson addressed the stigma surrounding men's mental health on Twitter, writing, "We all go thru the sludge/shit and depression never discriminates. Took me a long time to realize it but the key is to not be afraid to open up." Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, echoed similar sentiments to the Telegraph, stating that opening up about therapy reveals that "actually you're part of quite a big club."
Coping Strategies and Professional Support
Actress Taraji P. Henson told Variety that regular therapy sessions are essential to navigating her depression. To combat stigma, Henson established The Boris Lawrence Henson Foundation, which works to reduce mental health stigma in the African American community and increase the number of Black therapists.
Musicians Selena Gomez and Lady Gaga have both advocated for open discussions around mental illness. Gomez told WSJ Magazine that receiving the right medication completely changed her life after experiencing severe highs and lows, while Lady Gaga declared at a 2018 Children Mending Hearts fundraiser that secrets keep you sick.
Other celebrities have shared specific strategies for protecting their mental health. Riverdale star Lili Reinhart credited family support and middle school therapy with saving her life, while Frozen star Kristen Bell told Health that she manages mental health through medication, exercise, and listing ten positive thoughts for every negative one. Cookbook author Chrissy Teigen wrote an open letter to Glamour in 2017 to normalize discussions about postpartum depression, Katy Perry shared on Twitter that sitting in her car provided a safe space during pandemic depression, and model Cara Delevingne told The Edit magazine about overcoming teenage depression by learning to be happy by herself.
Grammy winner Billie Eilish emphasized patience when advising others on mental health, telling Vogue, "I had patience with myself. I didn't take that last step. I waited. Things fade." Full House star Candace Cameron Bure acknowledged on her podcast the difficulty of speaking out, admitting that seeking help can initially feel weak despite being a vital part of recovery.
