Kate Ritchie reveals rude shock on her final day of Home and Away
Kate Ritchie has shared a cheeky treatment she received from a co-star on her final day of filming Home and Away.
Ritchie, who left her role as Sally Fletcher on the Channel 7 soap in 2008 after 20 years, shared that another actor seemed too eager to see her leave.
Speaking on her Nova FM show Kate, Tim and Marty Wednesday evening, she told her co-hosts that a struggle for a pigeon hole ensued on her last day on the set.
“I swear to god, I had not even finished filming my final scene and I go into the green room between scenes … and someone had pulled my name off [the pigeon hole],” Ritchie said.
“I had a good pigeon hole because I’d earnt it. Up high on the corner near the phone. Someone peeled my name off and put their name on it!”
Ritchie’s co-host Marty Sheargold joked, “Well, that’s the business isn’t it! 20 years means nothing when there’s a good pigeon hole to be grabbed!”
In 2008, Ritchie – who at one point was the joint Guinness Book of World Records holder for the longest continuous role in an Australian drama series – said she had been thinking of leaving the show for years.
“My decision to leave Home and Away could draw many similarities to breaking up with the boyfriend, you just knew you had to,” she told the Herald Sun.
“You still loved him, you always would and no doubt you were going to miss him like crazy -- after all, you’re not sure you even remember life before he came along.
“But something just wasn’t right any more and the time had come for the inevitable parting of ways.”
In 2014, Ritchie joined Nova’s national drive show as a replacement for Meshel Laurie.
Ritchie said while she misses acting, she enjoys her broadcasting work and the lifestyle it offers. “I’ve really enjoyed working on the radio and learning a new set of skills,” she told Who.
“But also, the lifestyle that it allows me to have! This [afternoon show] schedule means I can actually support my daughter. I can take Mae to school, I can do Pilates if I feel like it. My life is too good sometimes.”