Ten Questions: Kate Ritchie

NOVA FM’S Kate, Tim and Marty became the country’s top-rating networked drive show. Kate Ritchie clinked a glass with Michael Bodey.

Kate Ritchie of Nova FM. ‘We’ve been flying under the radar.’ Picture: Chris McKeen

THE other FM networks hogged the headlines this year while Nova’s Kate, Tim and Marty became the country’s top-rating networked drive show. Kate Ritchie clinked a glass with Michael Bodey.

Congratulations on winning drive this year.

Thanks. It’s nice that you even know we are because we’ve been flying under the radar for a while. I suppose because there’s been so much chat about drive and so many changes happening in the radio world next year it feels as though the focus has been on what’s going on everywhere else, so it’s great to be acknowledged.

After such a long time in TV (on Home and Away), do you feel like a radio star now?

I feel much more comfortable now and I suppose people are now recognising me for my work in radio rather than as just the girl from TV who happens to be having a go at it. I do love working in radio; I love that compared to television it’s spontaneous and you never know what’s going to happen next and that’s why it’s so different from what I’ve done previously.

Do you still have plans to juggle radio and acting?

Yes, having said that I do miss television. Of course. And that has always been my plan but for now this is the way things have presented themselves. It’s actually really nice, after the couple of years I did in breakfast radio with Merrick & Rosso, the fact I was asked back to join a very successful drive show was a really nice vote of confidence. The way that I work, I doubted my skills and why I was brought onto the breakfast show all those years ago. Maybe it was because I was only “the girl from Home & Away” so to be invited back meant I must have been doing something right!

Is that why you returned to radio after a break?

It’s also about going where the work is and I love radio. I didn’t leave the breakfast show because I’d ticked that box and felt I’d learnt everything I could. But also, I know breakfast might be the coveted slot but I must say for now I’m much more comfortable in afternoons. It’s a dream job. I am getting up at the crack of dawn for a baby these days but not for a breakfast shift. I certainly didn’t take the job to try and prove anything but it was lovely the Nova family had me back.

Was there a moment when you felt comfortable on radio?

I never felt uncomfortable but it was such a big change, like anything. It could have been seen in some ways as my first job out of school really. All of a sudden I was taking a risk, I didn’t know what was going to happen next and I was testing myself. I didn’t know whether I could do anything other than play that girl on TV.

What’s your biggest challenge on radio?

I must say it’s quite nice not being me, which is what I love about the acting world, going to work and being someone else for a day. In radio, it may be a heightened version of yourself, and you can be a kind of character, but I had to find my own voice and that was a challenge. I was always going to feel uncomfortable doing something new but it made me feel great and gave me a confidence I didn’t have before.

So you were sheltered on Home & Away?

Of course but in a lovely way and there are days I wish I had that back. It was so comfortable and friendly and far more than a job for me. It sounds a cliche but it was family. I have such an attachment to that place, which is why I went back for a visit last year. It will always have such a big place in my heart and people probably roll their eyes when I say that but it’s the truth.

Do you still take a peek at Home and Away?

I do every now and then. When I first left the show I purposely didn’t watch because I’m an emotional old thing and it was too raw and didn’t want to see anyone else sitting on my couch or eating at my breakfast table! But now it’s nice to see such fresh new faces and to think that was me one time and remember how fun it was and how good it will be for them.

Do you consciously have to de-bloke yourself after spending hours in the studio with your co-hosts Marty Sheargold and Tim Blackwell?

[Laughs] I have a tendency to be quite blokey anyway and that just comes from school where a lot of my best friends were boys and I’ve grown up in an adult environment since I was 8, surrounded by men and having to hold my own. So while it might sound like a challenge being in a studio with those two, I actually feel at ease. I don’t feel intimidated or inferior or any of those things. I might play that card sometimes for a laugh but I feel quite comfortable in there with them.

Any plans in place to counter Hamish and Andy and Kate and Dave in drive next year?

Not necessarily. I guess I can’t speak for everyone but I know the way I always take on challenges and done my job in radio or television is just do the job at hand to the best of my ability rather than be too focused on what’s going on. Someone once told me in radio you have to be competitor-aware but not competitor-focused. We love the show, have loads of very loyal listeners, and we’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing. No one’s panicked.

Radio made headlines this year, which is rare. Do you think radio does as good a job of selling itself as TV?

I suppose so but I actually think over the last few years there has been a lot more attention on radio figures but usually it’s not for the right reason. Radio tends to get the headlines for all the wrong reason whereas TV gets the headlines regardless. I don’t know why that is.

Is it because audiences feel radio stars are more accessible than TV stars?

I’m probably the wrong person to ask because the main job I did on television in such a long-running series in people’s lounge rooms at 7pm, people felt they’ve grown up with me anyway. I guess what’s nice is now they feel they know me a little bit more.

You gave birth to your first child this year. How has that changed your professional life?

My professional life, for now, it hasn’t changed particularly. I must say, the planets all aligned when I got this gig because having a baby (and working) in the drive slot is the perfect gig. I can work from home and head into the studio for a few hours. As far as juggling things, it’s been relatively easy. Rather than changing things professionally it changes absolutely everything personally and I don’t want to turn into one of those people who thinks they know everything now they’ve created a little person but it has changed my outlook on things incredibly and it is my greatest achievement.