“A throwback video has emerged which has left fans wondering whether Kate Ritchie suffered as a result of her long-running role on Home and Away.”, — write: www.dailymail.co.uk
The beloved radio star, 46, kicked off her media career in 1988 at the tender age of eight on the Seven soap playing the character of Sally.
A compilation clip posted on the Instagram page ‘Home and Away The Early Years’ shows Kate’s character in scripted scenes being belittled and neglected.
Many of the scenes show a pre-teen Sally being sent away as the characters attempt to have ‘adult conversations’.
A young Sally in character can be heard whining, ‘Nobody tells me anything,’ throughout the clip reel as character after character belittles her.
One scene even shows the pint-sized character being sent outside to play outside in the dark.
Fans were quick to post comments on the shared post.
‘Holy f***, this is actually quite horrible. Poor Sally,’ said one fan.
‘I hope there was a counsellor on set,’ another commented.
‘Aw, but how did that make Kate feel playing Sally? Watching that was actually sad,’ one remaked.
Another fan speculated: ‘This must have traumatised the actual actress in later life!’
Kate left Home and Away after twenty years, with her last episode airing in 2008.
Commenting 33 years after her exit from the series, Kate told Woman’s Day in 2021 that leaving the show was difficult:
‘It really did feel like the loss of a big part of who I was, ‘tt took me a long time to adjust to that..
In the same interview, the Nova radio star confessed that she used therapy to help her deal with leaving the show.
‘That was what I needed at that point.’
It comes after Kate has been trying to get her life back on track after her shock drink driving charge in August 2022.
Last year, she revealed her decision to get professional help after she blew over the limit when she was stopped by police for a random breath test.
She said that after struggling with several personal challenges in 2022 she decided it was time to seek help.
‘It was a long time coming. I sought professional help, the help that I needed. Sometimes enough is enough,’ she said at the time.
‘Life has thrown me its challenges over the last few years, but I am not alone in that. I was fortunate to be able to take time.’
Kate returned a reading of 0.06 – just over the legal limit – when she was stopped by police for a random breath test in her station wagon at Pagewood at 2.45pm on 22 August 2022.
She was fined $600, suspended from driving for three months, and apologised on Instagram.
‘Recently I undertook a random breath test,’ she wrote.
‘Although it was low level, the test came back positive.
‘I made a poor decision and there is no doubt I understand the seriousness of my actions. I am truly sorry.’
In October 2022, Kate announced she was stepping away from her radio show, before it was revealed she was seeking treatment at an exclusive rehab clinic in Sydney.
In December that year, Daily Mail Australia broke the news Kate had entered an exclusive private mental health facility in Sydney to help treat her alcohol dependency.
She said in a statement at the time that the last year had been challenging and stressful which led to an ‘unhealthy reliance on alcohol’.
Kate made headlines again last month after another traffic incident.
She was allegedly behind the wheel of her black BMW X5 xDrive40i 2023 when the incident unfolded on Dudley Street, Randwick, on Wednesday November 6.
According to eyewitness accounts, her BMW collided with a parked Mitsubishi Pajero, forcefully pushing it off the road and into a parked Kia.
She exchanged details with the driver before quickly leaving to pick up her nine-year-old daughter, Mae, who she shares with ex-husband Stuart Webb.
No roadside sobriety test was administered and NSW Police did not attend the scene.
It is not suggested Kate was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident.
It appears the drivers will handle the matter privately and Ritchie may be charged a hefty repair bill.
Kate is a doting mother herself to daughter Mae, nine, who she shares with her ex-husband Stuart Webb.
She tied the knot with the former NRL star at the Quamby Estate in Tasmania in 2010, following a year-long engagement, but the couple parted ways in 2020.