By D. LAWRANCE and STEVEN JACKSON FOR DAILY MAIL AUSTRALIA
Kate Ritchie has continued to be a no-show at her breakfast radio after images emerged of the media star acting erratically while picking up her daughter last week.
Listeners of Nova 96.9 on Monday morning noted Ritchie, who hasn’t been heard on-air since shock images of her in a park last Wednesday were published by Daily Mail Australia, was again missing.
Her co-hosts Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli and Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald instead announced Chrissie Swan would again be filling in for the absent TV soap star.
Reasons for Kate’s ongoing absence were not addressed, however at one point Swan jokingly said ‘welcome to the Chrissie Swan era,’ hinting that Ritchie’s return may not be imminent.
Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Nova for comment.
Kate Ritchie’s management team have been locked in crisis talks with the one-time soap star after she was spotted stopping off at a bottle shop and acting erratically while making the afternoon school run to pick up her daughter.
Kate Ritchie has continued to be a no-show at her breakfast radio after images emerged of the media star acting erratically while picking up her daughter last week. Pictured Wednesday
The popular Nova 96.6 radio star spent Friday shuttered away in her ritzy Randwick home in Sydney’s eastern suburbs as she contended with the fallout from the alarming incident and ensuing episode where she was seeing crying in a public park.
Ritchie’s agent Mark Morrissey and fellow manager Erin Keneally were seen arriving at the former Home and Away star’s home mid-afternoon on Friday before leaving separately about an hour later.
It comes as a cloud continues to hangover Ritchie’s return to the airwaves alongside her Nova breakfast co-host Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli after the missing the show’s critical return from the ratings break this week.
Station insiders said they had been told Ritchie had taken an unexpected leave of absence this week because she needed to stay home to look after her daughter, Mae.
They said the network’s bosses had been shocked to learn the 10-year-old, whom she shares with former footballer ex husband Stuart Webb, had actually been at school – and were increasingly alarmed by her public behaviour.
They were particularly troubled by images that showed her driving a red Hyundai i30 to a BWS bottle shop near her home shortly after 3pm on Thursday before picking up her daughter from school and heading to a nearby park.
Video obtained by Daily Mail Australia shows the former actress crying while on the phone, wiping tears from her eyes and burying her head in her hands.
A witness, who saw Ritchie get out of the car at the park, said the star ‘looked really distressed’.
Listeners of Nova 969 on Monday morning noted Ritchie, who hasn’t been heard on-air since shock images of her in a park last Wednesday were published by Daily Mail Australia, was again missing on Monday
‘She walked around a bit in the park while talking and then suddenly she sat down and started rocking her whole body back and forth and crying,’ they said.
‘It was really confronting – she looked so upset. When she turned around her eyes were all red and puffy and she looked absolutely devastated.’
Ritchie’s daughter stayed in the car as she sat in the park, leaving the vehicle idle but the engine running.
The actress, who is set to front in the ABC’s upcoming parenting special The Role of a Lifetime, was then seen struggling to get up from the grass.
‘After the call ended, she tried to stand up but lost her balance and sort of fell over again,’ the bystander added.
‘When she finally managed to get to her feet, she started making another phone call… she looked much happier during that call.’
Handing her daughter her phone through the rear passenger window, Ritchie then walked around to the back of the vehicle – holding an arm out on the car as she got into the driver’s seat and drove home.
Nova’s co-hosts had promised their audience earlier in the week that the absent Ritchie would be returning to the show on Monday but ceased to mention her impending return after details of the daytime drama were made public on Friday.
Although the heavily promoted their program as ‘Fitzy and Wippa with Kate Ritchie’ throughout Friday’s breakfast program, her absence went largely unacknowledged as fellow network star Chrissie Swan filled the void.
Nova refused to comment on Friday when asked whether Ritchie would be returning to the show next week or expand on the circumstance surround the episode.
Her agent also refused to respond to Daily Mail Australia’s requests for comment.
It is understood Swan remains on standby to fill in for Ritchie on an extended basis in the event she does not return as planned.
The ABC did not respond when asked whether Ritchie’s parenting special would premiere on February 18.
The incident has reportedly raised significant concerns within Nova, given Ritchie’s ongoing struggle with her personal demons.
The former Home and Away star’s absence is said to have come as a considerable concern to the station’s executives, who have done everything they can to help support her in the key role.
Given her enduring popularity with their audience, Ritchie has been the central ingredient to the show’s increasing success.
Although Nova’s breakfast team still trail in sixth place in the Sydney radio market with 7.4 per cent of the available audience, the program’s audience has been growing and had picked up 0.5 percentage points in last month’s rating survey.
‘Kate is absolutely crucial if we’re going to have any chance of taking on the timeslot’s big guns,’ one station source said.
‘Fitzy’s moved back to Adelaide and he’s being beamed into the studio on the big screen, which honestly isn’t ideal, and as good as Wippa isn’t, he can’t hold it all together alone.
‘Kate’s arguably the biggest star and the best reason to tune in, so to have her missing in action is a massive dilemma.
‘We just hope she’s alright and that she will be back soon.’
Ritchie’s shock appearance comes after she was involved in a multi-vehicle collision last November.
She was reportedly behind the wheel of her black BMW X5 xDrive40i 2023 when the incident unfolded on Dudley Street, Randwick.
According to eyewitness accounts, Ritchie’s BMW collided with a parked Mitsubishi Pajero, forcefully pushing it off the road and into a parked Kia.
The owner of the Kia, who wished to remain anonymous, identified the Home and Away actress as the driver of the BMW and confirmed that Ritchie shared her details with him following the collision.
After the exchange, Kate expressed her need to leave promptly to pick up Mae.
He added that Kate said her personal assistant would follow up on the matter.
NSW Police did not attend the scene.
All three vehicles involved suffered substantial damage and were later towed away from the suburban street.
Months prior, in August, Ritchie was seen stumbling as she tried to get out of her chauffeur-driven car in Camperdown while attending an event in Sydney.
She appeared to lose her footing as she exited the vehicle, slipping back and landing on the floor.
Her driver was quick to assist getting her out of the car, holding her clutch and fetching her dropped keys from the ground, before he helped her back into the vehicle.
Chrissie Swan is currently filling in for Ritchie, with sources saying she had been put on standby in case the absentee presenter ended up taking an extended leave of absence
The radio star appeared to see the funny side of it all as she laughed with her driver while clinging to her phone.
However, her night appeared to end early as she never attended the event, simply getting back into the car before being driven back home.
Ritchie has been candid about her struggles in the past after she checked into private Sydney rehab centre to get help for ‘alcohol dependency’ back in 2022.
At the time, she had stepped down from her role on Nova’s drive show, Kate, Tim and Joel, after being charged with drink-driving just weeks earlier.
Ritchie returned a reading of 0.06 – just over the legal limit – when she was stopped by police for a random breath test in her station wagon at Pagewood at 2.45pm on August 22.
She was fined $600, suspended from driving for three months, and apologised on Instagram.
In December 2022, she said in a statement that the year had been challenging and stressful which led to an ‘unhealthy reliance on alcohol’.
‘Recently I undertook a random breath test,’ she wrote. ‘Although it was low level, the test came back positive.
‘I made a poor decision and there is no doubt I understand the seriousness of my actions. I am truly sorry.’
In March 2023, the star told The Sunday Telegraph that after struggling with several personal challenges she decided it was time to seek help.
‘It was a long time coming. I sought professional help, the help that I needed. Sometimes enough is enough,’ she said.
‘Life has thrown me its challenges over the last few years, but I am not alone in that. I was fortunate to be able to take time.
‘I just wanted to be a better version of myself for me and my family.’
If you or anyone you know needs immediate support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or via lifeline.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.
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