Home and Away's Kate Ritchie perfectly shuts down split rumours

Kate Ritchie, formerly of Home and Away fame. Photo / Getty Images

Australian sweetheart Kate Ritchie has addressed ongoing rumours her marriage is on the rocks with the perfect quip.

In a candid interview with Stellar magazine, the actor and radio host was asked about the constant tabloid stories that question the state of her personal life and seven-year marriage to rugby league star Stuart Webb.

"It doesn't hurt my feelings, not anymore. I think in the old days it did. There's no point in getting bogged down about what other people think is happening in my life," she said.

Ritchie, 39, then dropped the perfect zinger by referencing the similar stories her friend and former Home & Away co-star Bec Hewitt cops from the tabloids.

"The only positive in having the magazines write about my love life is that I know the Hewitts are getting a week off," she said, adding she regularly laughs about the rumours with Hewitt, who has been married to tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt for 12 years.

"It's me this week! They got you in your tracksuit, did they?" Ritchie joked about their conversations.

The mum-of-one also said she'd consider having more children, saying she'd like to give her three-year-old daughter Mae more "little people" to look after.

"Having children is a wonderful distraction from yourself, and also opens up a brand-new
world that is far greater than anything," she said.

This year marks 30 years since Ritchie debuted on long-running Channel Seven series Home & Away. She starred as Sally Fletcher in the soap for 20 years before leaving Summer Bay in 2008.

Reflecting on leaving the character behind, Ritchie said she felt like "something had been ripped from me".

"As long as I can remember, Sally Fletcher brought so many wonderful things to my life.
People wanted to meet me because of Sally, or I won awards because of Sally, or I was invited to great events because of Sally," she said.

"When you don't remember your life without it and all of a sudden that doesn't exist, you wonder, 'What is it about me that is attractive?' It's been a very long process of trying to work that out — it was about finding my own identity. And what I realised is, 'No, Kate brought wonderful things to my life.' I had to finally realise Sally was a result of me, not the other way around.

"I felt as though something had been ripped from me, like that security blanket. Maybe I
never really realised the joy I got from being someone else."

Ritchie, who is currently part of Nova's hit national drive radio show Kate, Tim & Marty, said she has not turned her back on acting and "would jump at the right gig tomorrow".