'Depressed' TV chef Carluccio checks in to the Priory after stabbing himself

Celebrity chef Antonio Carluccio has been admitted to the Priory clinic after stabbing himself in the chest with a kitchen knife.

The 71-year-old is expected to spend a month being treated for depression at the clinic.

Carluccio, who owns a chain of Italian restaurants bearing his name, was taken to hospital last Monday suffering from self-inflicted stab wounds.

Doctors at London's Chelsea and Westminster Hospital feared he had penetrated a lung and kept him in hospital until Thursday to monitor his erratic breathing.

It was not clear whether he had intended to commit suicide in the incident at his flat in Battersea, south-west London, or if it was an accident.

His spokesman described the incident as a 'private health matter'.

The son of a station master, Carluccio was born in Vietri sul Mare, southern Italy, in 1937.

He lived in Vienna and Hamburg before moving to London in 1975, initially working as a wine merchant and restaurateur before making his TV debut in 1983. His brand was launched in 1991.

Carluccio has been a great influence on Jamie Oliver, who started his career working for him at Terence Conran's Neal Street Restaurant.

He became the manager of Terence Conran's Neal Street Restaurant in Covent Garden in 1981, and became its owner in 1989.

He and his wife Priscilla (Conran's younger sister) opened an Italian food shop, named 'Carluccio's', in 1991, and a wholesale business in 1994.

The first 'Carluccio's Caffè' was opened in 1999 and a chain has expanded, initially across south-east England, and subsequently across the UK.

After ten years of developing Carluccio’s Caffés, Antonio has now stepped down from being a consultant to concentrate on new projects and ventures.

Carluccio had his own television series, Antonio Carluccio's Italian Feasts, in 1996, and has written several books on Italian cooking. He was awarded an OBE last year.