Australian TV legend Bert Newton’s decade-long health battle

The Aussie TV legend battled through a litany of serious health problems before his latest “life or death” decision.

Fans of Australian entertainment legend Bert Newton have been stunned today by the news the 82-year-old had been forced to undergo a leg amputation over the weekend.

The amputation was a “life or death” decision for the quadruple Gold Logie-winner, who has endured a litany of health problems in recent years.

Always open with the public, Bert and his wife of 47 years Patti have kept fans updated about every health setback - and his bouts of illness have hardly slowed him down, with gruelling live theatre appearances in shows like Wicked, Annie and Rocky Horror Picture Show in the past decade.

As Patti assured fans during one of Bert’s hospital stays last year: “He’s got a lot of living to do.”

Bouts of pneumonia

Bert Newton and his beloved grandchildren. Picture: David Caird

Newton spent a week in hospital in 2011 after catching a viral pneumonia from his granddaughter, Eva. The illness took him out of action from his starring role in the stage musical Wicked, but the then-72-year-old said the “wake up call” hadn’t prompted any talk of retirement.

“It’s the old story. What I do I don’t see as a job, I see it as something I love doing and it’s a very important part of my life,” he said upon his release from hospital.

Newton was “rushed to hospital” after suffering another bout of pneumonia in 2017.

Quadruple heart bypass surgery

Newton underwent lifesaving quadruple bypass surgery in November 2012, having been admitted to hospital twice in the prior year.

Leaving hospital weeks after the six-hour surgery, Newton thanked wellwishers for their support and explained he had a long road of rehabilitation ahead.

Bert Newton: “If you don’t feel well get to the doctor.”

“Obviously I say thank you. The reaction has been amazing. It’s not the sort of reason you go into the industry that I am in... but it’s such wonderful bonus,” he said as he left the hospital with wife Patti.

“Not just people you know and that have written to you regularly but people you have not heard of before - it’s a wonderful feeling.”

He said his heart issues were only picked up after a check-up when he wasn‘t feeling well.

“I was so lucky because I came to hospital for check-up. I wasn’t feeling the person that I normally felt so I came in for a check-up,” he said.

“Don’t be namby pampy, if you don’t feel well get to the doctor. Thank God I was here on time. They saw it, they did it and here I am.”

Mystery hospital stay

Patti posted this image of Bert last November.

In November last year there were fresh fears for Newton’s health in November last year after Patti posted a picture of him in a hospital bed to her Instagram account. But she assured fans he was “all good” despite the hospital stay: “He’s got a lot of living to do.”

A ‘life or death’ amputation

Today came a shocking update on Newton’s health, via entertainment reporter Peter Ford on-air on The Morning Rush with Sean and Kate. An infection that started in Newton’s toe before Christmas had worsened to the point that doctors gave him a “life or death” ultimatum: Lose your leg, or you may die within months.

Newton reportedly underwent the amputation on Saturday, and now faces some big life changes when he returns home to wife Patti.

Bert and wife Patti. Picture: David Caird

“It’s a big decision for anyone to make, but it’s also a practical thing, because they live in a two-storey place with the bedrooms and the bathrooms upstairs, so they’re now having to convert the house downstairs because Patti doesn’t want him to go into a nursing home,” said Ford.

Despite this drastic new procedure, Ford said the Newton family wanted fans to feel positive about Bert’s outlook - they certainly are.

“They said, ‘We had a choice. Other people don’t have a choice. Bert wants to keep on living, because he adores Patti, his children and his grandkids, and he wants to have as much time as he can with them’,” Ford explained.