Home And Away’s Sally Fletcher star Kate Ritchie – from talent show judge to quiet family life
Kate Ritchie has come a long way after being cast in Home and Away at the tender age of nine - from hosting her own radio show to a judging gig on Australia's Got Talent Bookmark Comments LIFESTYLE ByAraminta Parker
Kate Ritchie played Sally Fletcher on Home and Away for some twenty years and first took on the role when she was just nine years old.
The child actress turned adult star was an original member of the cast but quit the show in 2008, before later returning for a special 2013 episode to celebrate Home and Away’s 25th anniversary.
After leaving the show, Kate continued to act and appeared in Underbelly, a crime series inspired by the real life marujuana trade in New South Wales.
She also ventured into Radio and began presenting the Breakfast Show on Aussie radio station Nova FM.
Kate hosted the show alongside comedy duo Merrick and Rosso for around a year until she unexpectedly announced she was leaving in November 2009.
In 2010, she briefly returned to acting when she played the starring role in the ultimately doomed series Cops L.A.C, which was cancelled after just one season.
Two years later, in 2012, she returned to hosting as she narrated the Aussie edition of Don’t Tell The Bride and returned to radio, this time fronting the Drive show on Nova FM.
Alongside her radio work, Kate tried her hand at writing a children’s book, I Just Couldn’t Wait To Meet You, which she released in 2016.
In 2021, the star secured her highest profile role yet when she was announced as one of the judges on Australia’s Got Talent, and would be sitting on the panel with comedian David Walliams, singer Alesha Dixon and director Shane Jacobson.
She’s also recently returned to the small screen and starred in crime series The Claremont Murders, which was released in 2023.
When she’s away from the spotlight, Kate is focused on being a mum.
In 2008, she met and began dating Rugby League player Stuart Webb and, after a whirlwind romance, the pair got engaged a year later.
Stuart and Kate said “I do” in 2010 at the beautiful and historic Quamby Estate in Tasmania.
The pair welcomed their daughter Mae, now nine, in 2014 and it looked for a while that the family of three were happy and settled.
However, the relationship soured and Stuart was slapped with an Apprehended Violence Order in 2009, after police were called to a domestic disturbance at their Sydney home.
The orders are usually put in place to prevent “stalking”, “harassment” and mandates that the defendant must not “assault or threaten” the victim.
However, the two seem to have somewhat reconciled and put the past behind them, as they were spotted in 2020 dropping off Mae for her first day of school.
