BERT AND PATTI: PATTI LETS BERT HAVE IT!

THE TV LEGEND FEELS HIS WIFE’S WRATH AFTER HIS LOGIES BLUNDER

Still feeling the public pressure after his embarrassing performance at the Logies last week, TV veteran Bert Newton is now facing wife Patti’s wrath on the home front.

A source close to the family has told New Idea the showbiz legend’s wife is ‘in shock’ after her husband made a series of toe-curling jokes while on stage at the TV awards.

And in surprising new pictures, it appears the couple had a very public showdown, prompting questions about the state of their relationship.

‘Patti definitely seemed annoyed about something and we couldn’t believe when they launched into an argument. Patti really let Bert have it. People seemed pretty shocked,’ reveals a bystander.

Trying hard to keep a professional smile on her face, Patti then went outside to take a call. ‘Patti was venting on her phone, she seemed pretty fed-up to say the least. Afterwards they put on a show of being happy and walking around smiling – but you could feel the tension rolling off them. It’s clear things are obviously not good in the Newton household.’

It’s perhaps not surprising that Patti is reeling after Bert’s bizarre performance at the Logies, which included a homophobic slur, making light of #Metoo and insinuating Patti has a TAB account – among other insensitive insults.

‘To hear him make a joke of Don Lane and Graham Kennedy, “mentoring” people behind closed doors and throw about a homophobic slur left Patti completely gobsmacked,’ explains the family source.

‘She was horrified. It was completely in poor taste.

‘She feels like all their hard work building their reputations and profiles as the king and queen of Australian showbiz is now in jeopardy because of Bert’s carelessness. She has no doubt that he didn’t mean anything by it and that he’s far from homophobic – but this type of humour just isn’t acceptable, especially since Harvey Weinstein and the #Metoo movement.’

Bert later apologised for the gaff, saying ‘If I did offend anyone, I apologise. But I can’t promise I wouldn’t do it again’.

This latest drama comes amid what has already been another tough year for the embattled couple. As Bert fast approaches

his 80th birthday, he’s experienced a run of bad health and the couple are once again dealing with dramas involving their troubled son Matthew.

In May, the pair were devastated when they learnt Matthew’s future father-in-law, Eric Schneiderman, had been accused of assaulting four former girlfriends. Then backstage at the Logies, Bert implied that Matthew wasn’t coming to his milestone birthday celebrations next month.

He explained: ‘We’re just going to get the grandkids together with my daughter and her husband and we’re going to have a birthday party.’

Then, on an emotional episode of SBS’S family tree show Who Do You Think You Are? Patti discovered her great-grandmother was charged with the manslaughter of her one-month-old granddaughter, back in 1902.

Adding to their sorrows, a few weeks later, their six-yearold granddaughter Lola was hospitalised at the Royal Melbourne Children’s Hospital with pneumonia and breathing problems. Although she’s since recovered, the little girl’s health scare was a worrying reminder of Bert’s own pneumonia battle a year ago, which saw him rushed into emergency.

Despite the pressures of stardom, the pair have one of Australia’s most enduring celebrity marriages. They tied the knot in 1974 after meeting and appearing together on The Don Lane Show.

When Bert suffered a nervous breakdown and experienced deep depression, problem drinking and gambling, Patti was his constant, loyal supporter.

‘On a personal note, Patti was also hurt that Bert threw her under a bus by telling the world that she had a TAB account,’ says the source. ‘Bert’s gambling problems have been welldocumented for years. The last thing Patti wants is Australia thinking they’re both avid gamblers given Bert’s problems over the years – she can’t believe Bert could be so careless.’

Now the devastated grandmother is worried her husband will be remembered for all the wrong reasons. ‘She’s worried their many years and hard work building their legacy has gone up in flames thanks to one speech, and it’s tearing her apart. She just hopes people move on and forget about it.’

Sources say after Patti had to pick up the pieces from a lot of family crises, she’s had enough.

The star is furious about her husband’s insulting jokes.

Patti has always been a supportive force in family affairs, ever since meeting Bert on the Don Lane Show.

Bert made an unacceptable comment about his old TV collaborator Graham Kennedy (left), who he worked with over 40 years ago, saying the TV host mentored new talent behind closed doors.

Bert’s popularity with audiences goes back many decades, but has Moonface finally overstepped the mark? IS P A TTI PA CK ING H ER BAGS FOR GOOD THIS TIM E ?