Bert Newton back at work after pneumonia scare

Bert Newton has returned to work for the first time since his battle with pneumonia earlier this year.

The 72-year-old Australian television personality - who is best known to television audiences for his hosting stint on Channel Ten's Good Morning Australia - ended up in intensive care after being admitted to Epworth Hospital in Richmond in June.

Newton has now agreed to host the annual Starry Starry Night Charity Ball attended by Prince Frederick and Princess Mary of Denmark on November 26 in Melbourne.

The star told the Sunday Herald Sun: "I was very lucky. I didn't realise how lucky I was until I got the okay to go back to work and one of the doctors who looked after me told me just how lucky I was to pull through. It could be said the doctors at the Epworth Hospital came pretty close to saving my life.

"It showed that I'm not Superman. Not that I've ever been built like Superman, but I'm lucky and I really appreciate that."

Newton's actor son Matthew, who has been in and out of a psychiatric clinic since attacking then-girlfriend and Charlie's Angels star Rachael Taylor last year, caused controversy when he didn't visit Bert during his stint in hospital.

A friend of the Underbelly star later claimed that Matthew "doesn't want to be a part" of his famous family, with another saying: "I have always felt sorry for him because of the pressure of being Bert's son."

> Bert Newton feels "great" after health scare
> Matthew Newton on mental health battle: 'I was a lost soul'