Chef Heston Blumenthal: how my Arsenal pal nearly blinded me with a bog brush

 
Retina burn: chef Heston Blumenthal
Maxine Frith28 March 2013

Celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal told today how his eyesight was damaged by bleach following a bizarre incident involving former Arsenal footballer Lee Dixon and a lavatory brush.

The poster boy for molecular gastronomy was almost blinded in his right eye and had six layers of his retina burned off during a drunken playfight with Dixon on a ski trip in Switzerland.

Blumenthal and Dixon, now a TV pundit, became friends after meeting on a ski trip to Switzerland ten years ago. But their friendship was tested by the incident on a later ski holiday in the Alps.

Speaking as he launched his new range of glasses for Vision Express last night, Blumenthal said: “We were behaving outrageously. Don’t ask me why – or if a drink was involved – but I stuffed a lavatory roll into Lee’s mouth, saying he was talking rubbish.

“He retaliated by hitting me on the head with the handle of a bog brush. Unfortunately, although he didn’t hit me hard, my glasses pinged off and the actual brushes went into my eye.

“That was bad enough but they were soaked in bleach and it burned off six layers of my eye. It was agony. I was mad at him at first but it was an accident after all and luckily my sight was saved.”

Blumenthal needed treatment in Switzerland and later in the UK and now cannot wear contact lenses because of the damage to his retina.

But he has retained his friendship with Dixon and the pair often go on wine-tasting trips in France together.

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