When former Underbelly star Matthew Newton directed an off-Broadway play In New York earlier this year, he was given a standing ovation.
His parents, legendary TV stars Bert and Patti Newton, were not there to applaud his achievement – with Patti telling friends, she and Bert have only spoken to Matthew sporadically since he left Australia two years ago.
“They were proud of him when he did the play,” reveals one family friend.
“There is still the odd phone call to check in on Matthew but Bert and Patti are always on tenterhooks because of what has happened in the past. They think the US is the best place for him because he gets too much attention back on Australian soil.”
The “past” is like something out of a nightmare for Australia’s Mr and Mrs TV with their blue-eyed son charged with savagely beating two famous ex-girlfriends, Wonderland star Brooke Satchwell and movie star Rachael Taylor.
He was also accused of trashing a hotel room in a drunken frenzy, dumped as the host of X Factor, sacked from Nova radio station and charged with attacking a taxi driver in Kings Cross and beating up a receptionist in a Miami hotel.
She says Matthew’s relationship with his parents deteriorated even further when they went on national TV and told the world he was suffering a mental illness to garner public sympathy for their plight as parents.
“Bert and Patti have many, many regrets about going public, but hurting Matthew is not one of them,” she says. “They felt his ‘situation’ forced them to let their guard down to let their fans know their side of the story.”
Matthew later also did a confessional style TV interview, insisting he had mended the relationship with his parents after undergoing a 90 day stint at the Betty ford Clinic in Palm Springs, despite Patti revealing they really only communicated via email.
Friends say he has successfully beaten his drug and alcohol problem and is receiving treatment for his mental illness, but has no desire to ever return to live again in Australia.
Matthew’s friends all agree that the one taboo subject is his parents, who they say he rarely speaks to and mainly only via text or email, although he “adores” his sister Lauren’s young children and keeps in touch with them.
Australia fell in love with Matthew when he was just a small child, performing on stage and on TV with his famous parents and younger sister with a Matthew a mini-Moonface with arguably even more talent.
But behind the extraordinary success, Matthew was secretly struggling with a mental illness and reportedly abusing a wide range of drugs, including alcohol, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine.
His parents hope his fresh start in the US will bring him happiness.
Read the Newton’s full story only in Woman’s Day, on sale 11th April
Matt with with mum, Patti and sister Lauren in happier times.
