Patti Newton will turn 80 on February 4 – and it’s clear that, when New Idea catches up with the iconic Australian entertainer, she’s in the mood to set a few things straight about her life – especially about a rumoured feud with her eldest child, son Matthew Newton.
From the outset, when we chat about plans for her milestone birthday, Patti explains her eldest child, Matthew, 48, will definitely be part of the celebrations.
“There’s no feud going on,” Patti says.

While Matthew, who’s based in the US, is unlikely to return to Australia for her birthday, Patti will speak to him on the phone – and she does so regularly.
“He’s been in America for quite a long time, where he’s writing and working on scripts, but we talk frequently and he always shares in family celebrations, with video messages and calls,” Patti explains.
“He just had his birthday in January – and his wife Cat’s birthday is at the end of February – so we’ll catch up on those special days, too.”
Patti adds: “I’m always sending him photos and videos of things that are happening with the family.”
She says that any suggestion Matthew is estranged from his Melbourne-based family is “nonsense”.
“He’s happy in the US and he’s having a good time there,” Patti explains. “I think he’s better off where he is, to be honest. All his dad Bert [Newton] and I ever wanted was for him to be happy – and he is.”

Even before she lost her soulmate husband Bert in October 2021, family has always been everything to Patti. That’s why she wants to spend her big day celebrating quietly with her “wonderful” daughter Lauren, 45, her husband Matt Welsh, and Patti’s six adorable grandkids, Sam, 16, Eva, 15, Lola, 12, Monty, eight, Perla, five, and Alby, four.
Lauren’s brood lives just around the corner from Patti’s home. Patti, who spent most of last year performing as Miss Lynch in Grease the Musical, says since losing Bert after almost 50 years of marriage, work and her family gave her a reason to carry on.
“My youngest grandson Alby is only four, so I want to be around, if I’m well enough, to see him finish school,” she says.
“I think Bert would be looking down on me now, three years after we lost him, saying, ‘She’s a good girl, she kept going.’ He’d be proud of me.”

Patti reveals she made a promise to Bert that she “wouldn’t give up” when he died aged 83. “And I haven’t,” she says.
That’s not to say Patti doesn’t still miss Bert, who she met when they worked in radio together, terribly.
“We’ve just had our fourth Christmas without him,” she says.
“Everyone says the pain will ease in time, it will improve, but I don’t think that’s true. You get to three years after losing the love of your life and that’s when it really sinks in that it’s permanent. He’s really gone.”
But Patti says Bert is still very much part of the family: “We talk about him all the time. Bert was very close to his grandkids and he saw them every day, so the kids have got lots of lovely memories of ‘Poppy’. I’ve also got lots of photos everywhere at home of Bert and I’m always telling the kids stories about him.”

Patti plans on including Bert in her birthday by visiting him in the cemetery and leaving some special flowers behind. In addition to a family-focused day, Patti says she will catch up with some of her closest girlfriends, too.
Granddaughter Eva will take care of the cake. “I like a passionfruit sponge, we always have one of those, and Eva has really gotten into baking,” Patti says proudly. “She makes the most wonderful cakes!”
After her long career in showbiz and an exceptionally happy marriage, Patti says the lesson she hopes her grandchildren will pick up from her is to “do what you love and make memories with someone special”.
“I’ve had an amazing life,” Patti says. “I got 60 wonderful years with Bert and we loved each other very much. I’ve got two wonderful children and six beautiful grandchildren. Life has its ups and downs – but I feel very blessed.”