Former Home And Away star Kate Ritchie tells all in TV interview

Former child star-turned radio host Kate Ritchie has fought back tears while sharing her personal struggles in an emotional TV interview.

Former Home And Away star Kate Ritchie has revealed the personal struggles she faced after leaving the long-running soap after 20 years.

The former child star was overcome with emotion during an upcoming interview on Anh’s Brush With Fame as she recalled struggling with her identity after playing Sally Fletcher from the age of 8.

“I didn’t know where she ended and I began or vice versa and I had to work out whether I was more than that,” Ritchie said in a preview of the ABC show.

Kate Ritchie reveals her personal struggles on Anh Do’s Brush With Fame.

Kate Ritchie discusses leaving Home And Away.

“So it became really obvious when it was time to move on and that was a really big decision because it was just so frightening. What do I actually do when someone doesn’t hand me a schedule on a Friday afternoon and tell me where to be on a Monday morning?”

Ritchie, 42, left the popular Channel 7 show in 2008 and went on to appear in other TV shows including the second series of Underbelly.

She sought professional help to break away from her beloved TV character.

“I think it was the other stuff about missing the character and trying to work out my identity without this other person,” Ritchie said.

Kate Ritchie as Sally Fletcher alongside the late Heath Ledger.

Kate Ritchie joined Home And Away when she was 8.

“That was the stuff I hadn’t really considered too much and that hit me quite hard.

“She had been my best friend for 20 years and as of that day, I no longer had any connection to her.

“She gave me purpose and a sense of achievement because I felt …, I feel differently now after loads of therapy, I thought that the only thing I’d ever done of value in my life was when I was her.”

Kate Ritchie with Stuart Webb.

Ritchie now co-hosts a radio show on Nova FM with Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey.

While she has been open about her past struggles after leaving Home And Away, the former actor remains tight-lipped about her personal life.

Ritchie is understood to have split with her husband of 10 years, Stuart Webb, 40, for good after a 2019 domestic incident which resulted in police applying for an apprehended violence order on behalf of the star.

The estranged couple share a six-year-old daughter, Mae Webb.

Earlier this year, Ritchie was spotted on holiday in Byron Bay with a younger man identified as John Bell, 25.

Confidential has contacted Ritchie’s rep for comment.