Kate Ritchie reflects on special moment with John Farnham
Kate Ritchie has recalled the moment she met John Farnham on the set of Home & Away, in a moment that made her feel like "the luckiest little girl in Australia”.
The former Aussie soap star shared the touching tribute as part of 7NEWS Spotlight’s The Lost Tapes of John Farnham, as she revealed how much the iconic singer means to her.
Ritchie first met Farnham in 1998, as the pair filmed a special episode of Home & Away in which Ritchie, who played nine-year-old Sally Fletcher, was lucky enough to meet her idol, during what was to become an iconic Australian TV moment.
“I think we forget how big John Farnham was,” Ritchie told Spotlight’s Michael Usher. “Not only was he an incredible talent and so likeable, I feel as though he represented what Australia was all about."
“Not only was he our soundtrack, but he was the guy you wanted to be friends with.”
Since filming the episode with Farnham 25 years ago, Ritchie says he’s touched her life in a very special way.
“I remember I was the luckiest little girl in Australia,” she said. “The story was that Sally Fletcher won tickets to see Johnny perform but at the last minute she got an awful case of the chicken pox and because he is such a great guy ... he decided to come back to Summer Bay and visit Sally Fletcher in her pyjamas.”
After the two filmed the special episode together, Ritchie said she has never forgotten that moment.
“He made the child that I was feel like I was the important person on set that day,” she said. “It was like he had come to see me and he needed my help.”
Even now, 25 years later, Ritchie is still one of the country’s biggest Farnham fans.
“It’s really nice to talk about it,” she said. “I’ve bored my family over the years and (his 1990 hit) Burn For You is a bit of a favourite.
“I think that if you’re celebrating the nation we live in ... and you’re not playing John Farnham, you’re not doing it correctly.”
Image credits: 7News Spotlight