Former boxer Bruno tells of winning bipolar battle without medication

Former boxer Frank Bruno has revealed he has not needed to take medication for three years after a highly publicised struggle with bipolar disorder.

Bruno, 56, was first sectioned under the Mental Health Act in 2003 and again in 2012 amid concerns about erratic behaviour following the break-up of his marriage.

After taking part in the Great North Run in 2015, Bruno told the Sunday Mirror he admitted himself to hospital after he went “hell for leather” in training and “hit a brick wall”.

Bruno credited his improved state of mind on his daily fitness regime, eating well and a positive outlook.

The former heavyweight champion told celebrity magazine Hello!: “It’s the best I’ve ever felt. I’ve been medication-free for three years.”

Bruno recently became a grandfather for the first time after his daughter Rachel Bruno-hardy, his second with exwife Laura, and her husband Bobby Hardy had a daughter, named Amaya.

The ex-boxer said he is looking forward to babysitting the latest addition to his family.

He said: “I’ll be glad when they grow up and call me granddad or grandpa or whatever and I can take them to the cinema or take them to the zoo, go for a walk with them.”

Rachel added that she was happy for her family that her father had been able to work through his health problems.

She said: “A few years ago, when it all looked a bit bleak, I didn’t think we’d be in this position.

“I never thought we’d regain our family like it is now. It’s so nice to have us all healthy.”

Rachel appeared in the 2013 BBC Three documentary Rachel Bruno: My Dad And Me, in which she set out to find out more about her father’s illness.

The full interview with Frank Bruno and his daughter can be read in the latest edition of Hello! magazine.