One detail in Kate Ritchie selfie sparks fan speculation

Kate Ritchie posted a casual selfie before her return to radio this week — and one detail in the photo has sent her longtime fans into overdrive.

Actress and radio host Kate Ritchie has sparked speculation from some fans after she posted a selfie taken at a very important place from her past.

The 43-year-old former soap star shared a photo of herself on the Barrenjoey Head track, looking down on one of NSW’s most exclusive coastal towns, Palm Beach – aka, the longtime shooting location for Home And Away.

“Heading home and filling my cup today …” Ritchie captioned the post, alongside a winking emoji, leading fans to flood the comments section to ask if she was making a return to the much-loved Seven soap.

Kate Ritchie returns to Summer Bay … sort of.

Ritchie played the role of Sally Fletcher in Home And Away from the pilot episode in 1988 until 2008, literally growing up on screen before she left the show after 20 years at the age of 28. She made a brief return five years later, reprising the role of Sally as part of the soap’s 25th anniversary celebrations.

And one shot of Ritchie looking down on the setting for Summer Bay had fans excited she could be readying another return.

“Don’t tease me, Ritchie; it’s mean!” said one follower.

“Is that palm beach?? Will Sally be coming back?” asked another.

“I miss you in Home And Away, are you going to bring back Sally?” said another.

Ritchie (left) on Home And Away with Lynne McGranger, Bec Cartwright and Chris Hemsworth.

Ritchie’s post came the day before she returned to the airwaves this week, back co-hosting Nova’s Kate, Tim & Joel show. She had been on leave when she made a “poor decision” and was caught drink driving in August.

Ritchie was fined $600 and hit with a three-month driving ban after being pulled over in Sydney’s east, where she allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.06 at Maroubra Police Station.

“Recently I undertook a random breath test. Although it was low level, the test came back positive,” she wrote.

Ritchie still keeps in touch with her former castmates, like Ray Meagher. Picture: Instagram.

“I made a poor decision and there is no doubt I understand the seriousness of my actions.”

“I am truly sorry.”

In a rare emotional interview last year on Anh Do’s ABC program, Brush With Fame, Ritchie opened up about how she felt “lost” after leaving Home And Away, trying to figure out how to build a life without the full-time job she’d held since she was just eight years old.

“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,” she said of playing Sally.

“She gave me purpose and a sense of achievement. I feel differently now, after loads of therapy. I thought the only thing I’d ever done of value in my life was when I was her. I was lost, and I wondered how I was going to survive without her. How were people going to react to me if I wasn’t Sally? Sally was a great person, a great friend and a great daughter … did people only feel something for me because they liked her?” she said.

Originally published as One detail in Kate Ritchie selfie sparks fan speculation