''He's the saddest I've ever heard anybody sound,'' Patti Newton told A Current Affair last night. ''He knows what's happened. He knows what he's done, but hopefully medication might help him sort it out and realise why he needs all this medical help.''

Bert and Patti Newton spoke for the first time since their son returned to Australia after striking his girlfriend, actress Rachael Taylor, in ''two violent and unprovoked attacks'' during a holiday in Rome.

"I told her many times that she had to be really careful and I worried about her," says Patti Newton of son's girlfriend Rachael Taylor. Photo: Getty Images

He was subsequently sacked from his role as host of Seven's multi-million dollar talent show, The X Factor, which launched last night, and was admitted to a psychiatric hospital in Sydney.

Patti Newton said last night she had warned Taylor about her son. ''I told her many times that she had to be really careful and I worried about her,'' Patti said.

''I told her … you know you have to be careful, he needs help, he needs medication. That's no excuse for what he did but I think we were all aware there was a bomb about to go off somewhere, sometime.''

The Newtons admitted tearfully that their son had exhausted the public's patience - and their own. ''We don't know where to turn or what to do,'' Patti said. ''This is our problem, this is our cross to bear and we don't know how to handle it, we don't know what to do.''

Newton's implosion and the media fallout that followed is a major headache for the X Factor's stakeholders: Seven, for whose schedule the show is pivotal; Fremantle, who need it to replace their flagship Australian Idol; and Simon Cowell, whose company Syco owns the format, and who is notoriously sensitive to negative press.

Newton filmed material for The X Factor for four months, including interviews with contestants during the audition programs and the individual boot camps. In true television form, his presence in the program has been swiftly excised.

Seven considered leaving the audition episodes intact, but media fallout spurred them to shift actor Luke Jacobz, star of Home and Away and familiar with the format through a past hosting role on Popstars, into the gig.

Jacobz filmed introductions and recorded narration for the audition episodes. He will step into the hosting role with the live shows in mid-September.

* Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by calling SANE Helpline 1800 18 7263; Lifeline 131 114; Salvo Crisis Line (02) 8736 3295