“He will be dearly missed by his wife Natalie, daughter Rina, son Kieran, and three stepchildren Elijah, Maya and Leon.”
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon this morning wrote he was deeply saddened to learn of Latta’s death.
“Like so many Kiwis, Amanda and I read his books on parenting when our kids were younger.
“He had a remarkable ability to connect with people through his writing and broadcasting with empathy, humour, and insight.
“Our thoughts are with his family and all who knew and loved him.”
In September 2024, Latta shared a video on social media revealing doctors had discovered an “inoperable” tumour in his stomach, explaining how he reacted and came to terms with the sobering news.
In March of this year, Latta said the cancer treatments were working and he was responding well to chemotherapy.
He did not specify the drugs he was prescribed.
At the time, he said his stomach tumour had disappeared thanks to chemotherapy and he was able to stay on the cancer drugs indefinitely.
Nigel Latta announced publicly that he had been diagnosed with cancer in September last year
On the day of his death, Latta released his latest book Lessons on Living.
The book is described as Latta’s three principles he had learned after three decades working as a clinical psychologist.
“What do you do when you’re told you only have months to live?” the back reads. “If you’re Nigel Latta, first, you’re going to eat a lot of ice cream.”
The final words in his book ended on a poignant note.
“After working this toolkit all my life, and staying on the road all these long years, and getting up after all the falls, and pushing through pain, and stress and suffering, and all the triumphs, and all the disasters, and all the joys, and all the sorrows, and raising a family, and all that brings with it, and finding love, and most of all having now lived through months and months of staring down the clucking face of death itself, I finally arrived at the last enduring truth. I learned what I always knew but never truly understood. There is only one metric that really matters when we measure ourselves against the way we’ve chosen to live our lives: In the end … there is only love.”
Nigel Latta rose to fame as a household name in the 2010s for his hit psychology-based TV shows like The Politically Incorrect Guide to Teenagers.
Fans have taken to social media to pay respects to the late psychologist.
Penny Neilson said his death was a huge loss that would be felt through the education sector deeply.
“So much knowledge and his work to upskill educators to support children through the Christchurch earthquakes made a lasting impact.”
Penny Coleman remembered Latta as an “incredible human”.
“Sending so much love and support to whanau for the loss of this incredible human. I am a single mum and Nigel’s advice through his books and shows were an absolute blessing, his outlook on life was always positive and his jokes about the apocalypse kept me sane! A wonderful legacy to treasure.”
Abi Charters paid tribute to Latta’s tenacity, saying he was “an incredible speaker and inspiration for us all”.
“Even when he was sick from chemo, he showed up and spoke at a charity dinner I was at. He spoke about perspective and his journey with cancer changed things for him. Encouraging others to not wait for a life changing event like this.”
Latta was born in Ōamaru and attended Waitaki Boys’ High School.
He went on to study zoology and marine science at Otago University, before moving on to Auckland University where he completed a Master of Philosophy with First Class Honours in Psychology, and a postgraduate diploma in Clinical Psychology.
After around a decade as a psychologist, he released his first book Darklands: Unveiling the Predators Among Us in 2003, looking into the background of violent offenders. He released the TV show Beyond the Darklands in 2008, which followed a similar theme.
Latta went on to make TV shows with a lighter subject matter in 2009 with the hit show The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show.
Politically incorrect guides for teenagers and grown-ups were made after the show’s success and earned Latta many nominations for best presenter, and best information programme.
– More to come
