Nigel Latta’s no-nonsense parenting and psychological advice made him a favourite of Kiwi families – and he showed that same down-to-earth, practical nature during his brave battle with stomach cancer.
But sadly, the broadcaster, author, clinical psychologist and former Woman’s Day parenting columnist passed away last Tuesday at age 58.
“Farewell, my great love,” wrote his beloved wife Natalie Flynn on social media the morning after his passing.
“You were never dying – just living in the moment until you weren’t. You fought cancer with enormous bravery. You’ve spent your life helping others in need. And now it’s your turn to rest.”
A family man remembered
Nigel’s memory lives on in Natalie, daughter Rina, son Kieran and his three stepchildren, Elijah, Maya and Leon. After doctors diagnosed Nigel with an inoperable stomach tumour in September 2024, they gave him six to 12 months to live. Yet after embarking on treatment – a combination of chemo, radiotherapy and “wonder drugs” – his health outlook improved. Until December last year, when he developed an ominous cough.
“Everything was dormant and looking great,” Natalie tells.
“When he started coughing, everyone was sure it wouldn’t have spread, but then the scans came back and they said, ‘It looks like it’s spread to your lungs.’”
Defying expectations
Warned that if the new treatments didn’t work, he would have just four weeks to live, Nigel did what he did best – defied the odds. By March this year, he shared the news that he was responding well to chemotherapy and his stomach tumour had disappeared.
The following month, the couple released Parentland, the app Nigel had been working on for 20 years, which delivers research-based advice specific to the age, temperament and individual needs of each child.
At the time, he announced his cancer was in remission, saying, “Basically, I’m going to be around for a long time.”
Final lessons
Still striving to help others even while undergoing treatment, the Beyond The Darklands presenter wrote a book called Lessons On Living, which heartbreakingly was released on the day of his death. In it, he shared what he’d learnt during his three decades as a clinical psychologist.
“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, stress and suffering, and all the triumphs, all the disasters, 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,” he wrote.
“I learnt 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.”
A love that lasts
Luckily for Nigel, he found such a love with fellow psychologist Natalie, whom he wed on 25 November 2023. Sharing their joy in Woman’s Day, Nigel said, “To quote SpongeBob SquarePants, it
was the best day ever. The truth is, I love Natalie more than anything, but trying to describe that in a bunch of words seems a bit inadequate. Words are fine for most things, but sometimes they just don’t quite cover it because they’re just little words and it feels much bigger than that.” An equally besotted Natalie agreed, “We were just basking in love that day… It was bliss.”
Roots and education
Born in Ōamaru, Nigel attended Waitaki Boys’ High School, before studying zoology and marine science at the University of Otago. He then transferred to the University of Auckland, where he completed a Master of Philosophy with a First Class Honours in Psychology and a postgraduate diploma in Clinical Psychology.
His first book, Darklands: Unveiling The Predators Among Us, about the psychology of violent offenders, was published in 2003 and, five years later, he was fronting his hit TV series Beyond The Darklands. In 2009, Nigel’s The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show was another ratings triumph, leading to the release of guidebooks for both teens and grown-ups. A much-loved speaker, he also travelled around the country to talk to parents and schools.
A focus on legacy
Yet it is the work he and Natalie did together at the end of his life that seemed to resonate with Nigel the most. In May, he told Woman’s Day that his diagnosis sharpened his focus on finishing the Parentland app, and he felt proud as people began using it.
“That’s the gift of cancer,” he mused.
“I could have just spent the next 30 years taking everything for granted that’s important to me, like most people. I think everyone knows that love is really the only thing that matters, but it’s letting that change your behaviour.”
