‘Living with bipolar nearly cost me everything, until I took back control’
Warning: This story contains details related to the topic of suicide.
‘Living with bipolar nearly cost me everything, until I took back control’
Multi-award-winning presenter Leah Charles-King says she missed warning signs of the condition as she details her story in her new book, Thriving with bipolar: A Personal and Practical Guide to Living Well’.
STORY BY MELISSA SIGODO
APRIL 18, 2026
TV presenter Leah Charles-King is sharing how living with undiagnosed bipolar nearly ‘cost her everything’ after spending a year in a manic episode that went unrecognised by medical professionals.
Best known for hosting the Channel 4 property programme, A Place in the Sun, Leah says that the mental health condition left her spiralling without the support or life-saving intervention she desperately needed.
Bipolar disorder causes extreme mood changes that can last for days or weeks at a time and over 1 million people in the UK live with the condition making it the most common severe mental illness.
But Leah says she experienced a manic episode for “at least a year” and that she almost succeeded in taking her life more than once.
Now, since being diagnosed and becoming a Bipolar UK Ambassador, she is sharing her ‘honest journey’ in her new book about the reality of living with the condition.
Leah said: “I almost succeeded in taking my life, more than once. I genuinely believe earlier intervention could have saved me sooner.
“I was having a manic episode for at least a year, and no one clocked it. Not even my GP.
“Looking back, the signs were there but they were missed. And when bipolar goes unchecked, it can escalate fast.”
According to research by Bipolar UK, people with the condition wait nine and a half years on average for a diagnosis and 50% of people will attempt suicide at least once.
1 in 5 people die by suicide and despite global rates falling, those related to bipolar have not declined.
Leah says she had a period of “extreme instability, confusion and loss of control” where outwardly she appeared functional but internally she was unravelling.
The TV presenter said: “People don’t always see what’s really going on.
“You can be smiling, working, showing up and still be desperately struggling behind the scenes. That’s the danger.”
Leah hopes her book, Thriving with bipolar: A Personal and Practical Guide to Living Well, will provide the “honesty” she needed when she was first diagnosed.
As an ambassador for Bipolar UK, she also hopes it will raise awareness for people to notice the warning signs and access potentially life-saving treatment.
Leah said: “This is the book I needed when I was first diagnosed. Something real. Something honest. Something that says, ‘Yes, this is hard, but you can recover and rebuild your life.
“‘You can regain stability. You can still thrive.’”
Leah says the book combines lived experience with practical tools and its aim is to help readers rebuild trust in themselves after crisis.
Each chapter shares her personal journey alongside “clear, actionable guidance” for others navigating bipolar or supporting someone who is.
‘Thriving with bipolar: A Personal and Practical Guide to Living Well’ will be available for pre-order from 4 May 2026 via Amazon, all major bookstores and www.thrivingwithbipolar.co.uk, ahead of its official release on 11 May 2026, marking the start of Mental Health Awareness Week.
If you have been affected by this story, please visit Samaritans.org