Home and Away’s Kate Ritchie is spotted entering mental health clinic following drink driving charge

Kate Ritchie has been spotted checking into an exclusive private mental health clinic in Sydney after a difficult year.

The Home and Away star, 44, announced in October that she would be leaving her afternoon driving radio show on Nova for the rest of 2022, just two months after she was charged with driving under the influence on a Monday morning. night in August.

Nova announced his departure in a pre-recorded clip rather than reading it live, suggesting that management may have wanted Ritchie to stick firmly to a prepared script.

“Everyone on the radio was like, ‘Wow, that was weird, she’s not coming back,'” a radio insider told Daily Mail Australia at the time, with speculation mounting that she will never return to the show.

On Sunday, Ritchie was seen carrying bags as he entered the Sydney Clinic in Bronte, where patients are offered a “mental health or addiction recovery programme”.

Daily Mail Australia made multiple attempts to seek comment from Ritchie’s management.

Ritchie picked up one of the family help books she has written, Everyday Play, which includes recipes and activities for children and their parents.

Her mother, Heather, dropped her off at the clinic.

The following Monday afternoon, Ritchie, dressed casually in blue jeans, a matching denim shirt, and a shoulder bag, was picked up from the clinic by her mother.

The Sydney Clinic runs inpatient and day programs for the ‘assessment and treatment of mental health conditions’ and to help those who ‘experience problems with alcohol and other drugs’.

Daily Mail Australia is not suggesting that Ritchie is being treated for these conditions.

The clinic has a ‘multidisciplinary team including consultant psychiatrists and addiction specialists, nurses, exercise physiologists, social workers, psychologists and psychotherapists’.

An industry source said The Sydney Clinic was popular with on-air talent as it was relatively low-key.

“They have a good strike rate and the day programs allow patients to come and go and continue to see family and work while receiving help,” the source said.

“This time of year is perfect as well because it’s a ratings-free period, most people are out of town on vacation, and the networks are drying up.”

Ritchie shocked listeners in October when he announced that he would be leaving his hit show Nova Drive for the rest of the year due to stress.

Shortly after the announcement, a radio source claimed that she may not return to Nova’s driving show and could be replaced by replacement co-host Ricki-Lee Coulter.

Ritchie is said to have lost the support of fellow presenter Tim Blackwell, who is keen to have the popular singer Coulter on the national Kate, Tim & Joel show permanently.

The third member of the team, comedian Joel Creasey, is still a fan of Ritchie, but Blackwell is the 20-year-old broadcast professional who runs the show and industry insiders say he’s going to get what he wants.

Coulter, who became popular as part of Nova’s Sydney breakfast crew in 2010, was the presenter of Network Seven’s Australia’s Got Talent, on which Ritchie was a judge.

“Kate will return next year is not a certainty,” the source told Daily Mail Australia about Ritchie’s future at Nova.

“Management loves Kate, but she has been MIA many times this year and Ricki-Lee has done a great job filling in. That has created a dilemma. Tim is a big fan of Ricki-Lee and Joel is in Kate’s fan club.

Rumors about Ritchie’s future at Nova began to surface after it emerged that she returned a reading of 0.06, just above the legal limit, when police stopped her for a random breath test in her Subaru pickup truck in Pagewood at 2:45 p.m. on August 22.

Ritchie was fined $600, suspended from driving for three months, and apologized on Instagram.

“I recently took a random breath test,” he wrote. ‘Although it was low level, the test came back positive.

‘I made a bad decision and there is no doubt that I understand the gravity of my actions. I’m really sorry.’

At the time, listeners noted Ritchie’s frequent absences from the show in recent years.

At one point in 2020, he took seven consecutive weeks of leave from the show, which one radio figure said was “unheard of” in the industry.

However, another well-placed radio source said her departure had nothing to do with the drink-driving scandal and that management was desperate to put her back in the chair.

The source insisted that Kate’s on-air statement about being stressed and exhausted by her schedule was the real reason for her absence.

Ritchie had said, “We love our audience and they seem to put up with us.”

‘And as you may have guessed, I put a lot of emotional energy into everything I do, my job and my family especially, and the last few months that I’ve been working in radio, I’ve been going back to television and in my spare time, I even wrote a book. for children.

So, it’s simple, like some of you I guess, I’m tired and just need a break for a short time and have more time for myself and my family, to recharge.

“I have spoken with the heads of Nova, and they kindly agreed that this is a good time to take a break, as we approach the end of the year.

“Nova has been fabulous and supportive, so thank you Nova, and thank you Tim and Joel and the team, and most importantly thank you to all of our amazing listeners. I really mean it.

‘Time to recharge your batteries and come back fresh next year. And even if it is for a short time, I will miss you all. I’ll see you on New Years.

Ritchie shares eight-year-old daughter Mae with ex-husband Stuart Webb.

The couple separated in 2020 after 10 years of marriage.

Kate grew up in front of Australian television audiences after first appearing as Sally Fletcher on Home and Away at just nine years old in 1988.

She appeared on the show for the next 20 years, winning the Gold Logie for Most Popular Personality in 2007 and 2008 and the Silver Logies for Most Popular Actress from 2006 to 2008.