Patti Newton, 80, Clears Up Rumors After Cozy Sighting with Mystery Man

Patti Newton has opened up about her rumoured new love interest.

The 80-year-old was spotted out and about in the Melbourne suburb of Camberwell recently getting very cosy with a mystery man.

However, Patti took to Instagram this week to rubbish claims that she had found a replacement for her beloved husband Bert, who died in October 2021.

She shared two images of the couple walking hand-in-hand, revealing in her comment that the relationship with her walking pal was strictly platonic.  

‘I have to laugh at these photos that popped up on social media,’ she wrote.

‘I bumped into a man that has been serving me for years at David Jones and we said a quick hello. He is apparently my new man!’

Patti ended her post with a heart-warming: ‘There will only ever be Bert for me so they can say what they want!’

The post was met with a flurry of comments from friends and followers including former MKR star Ash Pollard.

‘Patti! What a classic,’ Ash wrote. ‘You can only laugh, you’re right. I’m sure Bert is doing the same. 

Actor Jay Laga’aia also offered a cheeky: ‘Thank God. Now can pass the baton onto someone else. Ha!!’

Veteran TV presenter Jo Beth Taylor also jumped in with: ‘Well….. he is cute. Have to laugh Patti.’

Patti cut a very youthful figure on her recent outing that saw her joined by daughter Lauren, 45.

She wore a beige coloured P.E Nation jacket that featured a striking animal print motif on the collar.

Patti also wore a navy blue top as well as a pair of similarly coloured leggings and a pair of blue and white sneakers.

She accessorised with a pair of dark sunglasses and a chic Louis Vuitton canvas handbag.

In a sweet tribute to her iconic husband, Patti also wore a silver-toned nameplate necklace bearing the name ‘Bert’. 

Lauren, meanwhile, wore a similar animal print bomber jacket  and leggings for the outing.

Like her mother, Lauren also wore a similar necklace bearing her father’s name.

Patti looked chuffed to bump into her old David Jones pal, with the pair quickly reacquainting.

They were spotted happily catching up as they strolled the streets of Camberwell arm-in-arm.       

Patti – who was married to Bert for 47 years – laid her husband to rest in November 2021, aged 83.

He had been receiving palliative care at a clinic in Melbourne at the time of his death.

He was hospitalised in March that year and underwent surgery on his leg in May. He needed surgery after his toe became infected before Christmas.

The infection was ‘linked to his diabetes’ and was threatening his life, with doctors telling him the surgery was a ‘life or death decision’.

Doctors told Bert that if he kept the leg then he would have just ‘months to live’ rather than years if he chose to amputate.

Speaking after the TV legend’s death, Patti revealed she was notified of his passing shortly after leaving his bedside.

‘I missed him, but maybe he didn’t want me to be there for his last breath,’ she said as she was joined by two of her granddaughters outside the family home in Melbourne.

‘I left [the clinic where Bert was in palliative care] at ten past seven, and I was just pulling around to come into my drive and I get the call to say he’d taken his last breath at 7.22pm,’ she said. 

‘It’s very, very devastating. All our hearts are breaking because he was just the most wonderful man.’ 

Patti, who was married to Bert for 47 years, said she hoped her late husband ‘will be remembered for the legend that he was’.

‘He had such a fabulous attitude. And he gave us so much joy right up to the end.’

‘I love that attitude of his, he was never going to give up and that’s what we have to take with us. We have to just make sure that the love he gave us stays with us forever.’