Home and Away star Kate Ritchie charged with drink driving

Former Home and Away star Kate Ritchie has had her licence suspended after being charged with drink driving.

Radio host and former Home and Away star Kate Ritchie has been charged with drink driving and slapped with a three month driving ban.

Police allege that Ritchie, 44, was driving over the limit in the suburb of Pagewood, in Sydney’s east, on Monday afternoon.

She was pulled over in her blue Subaru station wagon just before 2.45pm for a random breath test and allegedly blew a positive result, police told news.com.au.

The celebrity was then taken back to Maroubra Police Station for a second test which allegedly showed she had blood alcohol reading of 0.06.

She was issued with an infringement notice for the offence of driving with low range prescribed concentration of alcohol and had her driver’s licence suspended.

Kate Ritchie has been charged with drink driving. Picture: Supplied

The Daily Telegraph reported that Ritchie was fined $600 on the spot and banned from going on the road for three months.

Ritchie is well-known for her role as Sally Fletcher on Home and Away from 1988-2008.

Currently, she is prominent radio host on Nova’s Kate, Tim and Joel show, having worked for the network in various capacities since her departure from Home and Away.

news.com.au has contacted Nova for comment.

Ritchie has been active on social media in the wake of her DUI, posting a series of glamorous photos from a past photo shoot.

The driving suspension comes before she was set to return to TV as a judge on the upcoming Seven series, Australia’s Got Talent.

The reality show has reportedly finished shooting but does not have a release date yet.

Ritchie is joined by fellow judges, Australian actor Shane Jacobson and British stars David Walliams and Alesha Dixon.

In the past few months, Ritchie has been appearing irregularly on her radio show with several lengthy absences.

The latest absence was blamed on her having a bout of Covid-19.

She cannot drive for three months.

Kate Ritchie (pictured with Home and Away colleague Ray Meagher) was on the popular TV show for 20 years. Picture: Instagram.

Ritchie has had a tumultuous few years in the spotlight, following her split from husband, retired rugby league player Stuart Webb, in 2019.

The TV icon was dating 25-year-old security consultant John Bell but made headlines at the end of last year because they had reportedly broken up.

Ritchie also found herself in the news in 2021 because she revealed in an emotional appearance on an ABC program that she was lost after quitting her Home and Away role in 2008.

“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?” she said at the time.

Ritchie is yet to comment.

Originally published as Home and Away star Kate Ritchie charged with drink driving