Patti’s public breakdown
The doting grandmother could barely hold back the tears on a day out in Melbourne
Not even a catch-up with her beloved grandchildren, 17-month-old Perla, and Monty, four, could make Australian legend Patti Newton’s worries disappear.
Last week, the usually jovial 75-year-old was seen out in Melbourne looking downcast, with witnesses telling Woman’s Day the star, who has enjoyed a 45-year marriage to her TV icon husband Bert Newton, looked as if she was holding back tears.
“She appeared noticeably glum, not her usual self, that’s for sure,” a passerby tells. “Something was definitely getting her down, she was trying her best to attend to the kids, but she just looked sad and as if she was about to cry.”
Indeed, the weight of the world has been on Patti’s shoulders of late with the former singer caring for Bert, 81, who has been at an increased risk of illness due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her ageing husband has certainly not been in the best of health in recent years.
“He is very weak, very frail and he’s ailing at an alarming rate,” a close family friend told Woman’s Day last year.
FAMILY MATRIARCH
“Patti doesn’t even like to leave him alone for more than a couple of hours. She’s been out of her mind with worry for weeks,” the insider explained of Bert’s troubled health, which includes a severe form of anaemia.
And while Patti has always enjoyed being a devoted wife, she’s also a very in-demand grandmother to daughter Lauren’s five children – and there’s a sixth on the way!
The doting nan is often by 41-year-old Lauren’s side as she pushes a pram on one of their mother-daughter strolls, and she’s no stranger to babysitting for the growing family.
Just last month, Patti took to Instagram to tell her 25,000 followers, “family is everything”, but noticeably didn’t mention her troubled New York Citybased son Matthew, 43.
Earlier this year, an insider revealed that Matthew was finally thinking about coming home to be by his parents’ side, much to Patti and Bert’s delight. But with the pandemic keeping international borders shut, it seems Patti is preparing to face another year without her dearly missed son.