TV legend Bert Newton has leg amputated

The 82-year-old underwent surgery in Melbourne on Saturday after doctors told him he would have only months to live without the operation, according to reports.

He has spent the last six weeks in hospital, since a toe infection he contracted around Christmas became a serious medical issue.

A series of doctors and vascular surgeons had investigated the worsening infection and provided specialist advice, and the TV star's leg has been amputated below the knee.

Patti Newton spoke to the media outside the Epworth Hospital on Monday morning.

"He's in really good sprits, he's got a big journey ahead of him, as we all have," she said.

"But you know know Bert, onward and upward and I'm sure he'll be fine."

She arrived to visit her husband of 46 years on her own knee scooter with her foot in a moon boot, after breaking her ankle in a fall.

"It's early days so we have to just take a day at a time - it's a good name for a song, one day at a time," she said.

The celebrity couple will have to remodel their house to put a bathroom on the ground floor, so they are able to recover at home.

Several entertainment personalities have posted their reaction to news of the operation on her Instagram page.

"Dear Patti just heard news about Bert... So, so, sorry to hear of such dramatic and stressful changes to both your lives. Sending much love and strength to both of you," radio presenter Jane Kennedy wrote.

"Sending so much love to you and Bert with everything that is going on in your world. You are such an amazing couple and we wish you only good things ahead," wrote television presenter Angela Bishop.

Last November Patti Newton posted a photo of her husband lying in a hospital bed wearing a mask.

"Bert's been in hospital, all good," she wrote.

"He's got a Lot of Living to Do."

Newton has battled several health issues in the past, including hospitalisation with pneumonia in 2017.

He also underwent quadruple bypass surgery in 2012.

Australian Associated Press