Home and Away star Kate Ritchie’s life - boob problems, police incident and sex quips

 The Sally Fletcher actress grew up on our television screens from a young nine-year-old and became one of the longest female leads on the show, leaving the soap in 2008 at the age of 29.

Kate Ritchie landed a starring role as schoolgirl Sally Fletcher on Home and Away in 1987 at the tender age of eight.

She remained on the long-running series for 20 years, growing up in front of the cameras with the Gold Logie award winner leaving the soap when her character died of a massive heart attack.

Kate's professional career has continued to soar - she's part of the hugely popular Nova drive team Kate, Tim & Joel, has written two children's books with a third recipe book on the way, and is the face of brands including QV Skincare and Jockey Underwear..

But despite her professional success, the star has faced a slew of drama in her love life after receiving a domestic violence order against her husband.

As she opens up about the struggles of growing up in the spotlight, including the revelation that she found it hard to go through puberty while filming the show due to her big breasts, let’s take a look at the star behind the role and her life off-screen.

Big boob problem

Having kicked off her acting career on Home and Away at the age of eight, Kate Ritchie was forced to grow up very quickly in the public eye.

And with that came some challenges for the then-rising star, one being strangers openly commenting on her changing body, especially her growing boobs and says it wasn't easy transitioning from a child into a woman under the glare of the spotlight.

“Well I have to admit it was pretty awful at times, but I think after 30 years I’m so used to people commenting on my body,” Ritchie said.

“I’m sure this isn’t too crass, but I kind of grew overnight and I’ve had people since then, I go and buy sausages at the butcher or I go to the hairdresser and people tell me they remember the day when Sally Fletcher grew breasts,” she told The Project

Sex Quips

When Kate Ritchie celebrated six years of marriage with Stuart Webb, she began a discussion about possible traditional gifts to mark the occasion.

With wood being dubbed appropriate for a sixth anniversary – the conversation soon turned into a joke about the star's sex life when she appeared on Today Extra.

“Someone else said that to me, but what does that mean? I needed to buy a wooden spoon?” she asked, to which quick-witted co-host David Campbell responded: “We're not going to get into your sex life”.

Laughing off the awkward segue, the Nova radio presenter said: “He is a chef, so a wooden spoon wouldn't be an insult but if he bought me one, I'd be like, ‘What does this mean?’”

Kate wished her husband a happy anniversary on Instagram with a sweet selfie of the couple while on a romantic getaway, putting split rumours well-and-truly to rest at the time.

“Six years ago today,” the former Home And Away actress captioned the photo, followed by Emojis of a bride and groom.

Police incident

Kate Ritchie was granted an interim apprehended violence order (AVO) against husband-of-nine-years Stuart Webb, back in 2019.

The AVO was sought following an incident at their home, with NSW Police saying at the time: "Officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command are investigating an incident at a home in Randwick on Thursday, October 17 [2019]."

While Kate has never publicly commented on the state of her relationship with Stuart, the mother-of-one was most recently linked to cybersecurity businessman John Bell.