It’s hard not to associate Bert Newton with the TV WEEK Logie Awards, but his legacy is living on at this year’s event thanks to his beloved wife Patti Newton and daughter Lauren Newton.
Dressed in their sparkly finery, the mother daughter duo walked the red carpet on the Gold Coast and eagle-eyed fans noticed Patti’s subtle but loving tribute to her late husband.
Patti and Lauren Newton walk the red carpet at the 62nd TV WEEK Logie Awards.
(Image: Getty)
Patti’s necklace was a sweet tribute to her late husband.
(Image: Getty)For the awards, the 77-year-old honoured Bert through her jewellery by donning a silver necklace that features Bert’s name.
Patti also took to the stage at the awards to present the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter that was renamed in honour of the late TV legend.
“Thank you very much for that beautiful welcome and for this beautiful man of mine, isn’t he fabulous! What am I going to do without him!” she remarked in her speech.
“I actually didn’t think I was going to be able to do this tonight, because it is still very raw and I will never get over him not being here. But I know he is with me. And here. But I know he is with me.”
Bert famously loved the TV WEEK Logie Awards.
(Image: Getty)She also remarked that Lauren had her necklace made for her so that he will always be with her.
“Lauren and I used to sit with him for hours and hours and we would reminisce about all the wonderful things that he did, because he did do fabulous things, and we talk about the people that he met and the shows that he did and how wonderful it was. We were very proud of him because he did go through a lot, and he was very brave and he just never complained.
“He had this thing where he would say, ‘Not everybody lives their dream’, but he did, and he loved it, he really did live his dream,” she added, remarking that Bert “loved” the Logies.
“He had another very big love and that was family. He loved his mum and sister and brothers and then came Matthew and Lauren. And then he had his six beautiful grandchildren to concentrate on. And to love and adore as they do him. I have been his partner for 57 years, it is a long time.”
When the crowd applauded, Patti sweetly replied: “Thank you but I don’t need applause because I have loved every minute of those 57 years. He did say to me when we got married, we will have a few ups and downs, but it will never be boring. And he was so right. It was never boring. I think I have been very blessed that he chose me.”
Patti finished by remarking: “I was only thinking today, if I could just ask him how he feels about this particular award being named in his honour. And I am absolutely certain that he would say, ‘What? Not the gold?'”
“He had this thing where he would say, ‘Not everybody lives their dream’, but he did, and he loved it, he really did live his dream.”
(Image: Nine)Bert, who passed away in October last year, was a four-time Gold Logie winner.
According to entertainment reporter Peter Ford, Bert had a friend who had AIDS and was dying in the Fairfield Infectious Disease hospital, with just weeks to live and visited every single patient in the ward.
“I went into my friend who was suddenly energised and I looked across at the bedside table and, Bert had actually left one of his Gold Logies,” Ford recalled.
“I rang Bert and said: ‘I can’t believe you did that.’ He said it’s OK, but he thinks he has broken some kind of Logie law by doing it, so you can never report it until the day I have gone.”
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