Kate Ritchie Announces Departure From Summer Bay

We knew it had to happen sooner or later – Kate Ritchie has revealed she will be leaving Home and Away at the end of the year.

After playing Sally Fletcher for 20 years on Channel Seven’s hit serial drama, Kate Ritchie will farewell Home And Away in mid-December when she films her final scene.

Kate has been a permanent cast member since its pilot aired 20 years ago, in 1987.

“I have been blessed with a job that I have loved for the past 20 years and I wouldn’t take back one moment of my time on Home And Away but I feel that it is time for change.” said Kate today.

Ritchie managed to achieve the dream of every Australian actor by winning the TV Week Gold Logie earlier this year for her role on the program, and we must commend her for her bravery in leaving the soap at the height of her fame rather than run the risk of being typecast as Sally Fletcher for the rest of her life, a disastrous turn of events which would have undoubtedly occured had she chosen to pursue more than twenty years with the program.

We congratulate Kate Ritchie on a sterling career so far, and look forward to seeing where life takes her (the UK panto scene, the pop charts, a second shot at grainy video infamy, etc)

After the jump, some classic Sally moments from history!

SALLY FACTS COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA!

* Her parents died when she was three in a boating accident! HOW VERY ‘BOBBY’!
* She started an archaeology course at university! HOW VERY ‘INDIANA JONES’!
* She suffered from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, but recovered thanks to the love of her friends! HOW VERY ‘UNFEASIBLE’!
* She had ovarian cancer, so she and first husband Flynn used their friend Leah as a surrogate to reproduce! HOW VERY ‘POTENTIALLY COMPLICATED’!
* She had a stalker who tried to kill her numerous times! HOW VERY ‘UNNERVING AND ILLEGAL’!
* A teenage boy named Diesel kissed her in an attempt to frame her! HOW VERY ‘NEVER MISS YOUR WATER’!
* She became a widow! HOW VERY ‘THE REVERSE OF MR SHEFFIELD IN THE NANNY’!
* She owns the Summer Bay Caravan Park! HOW VERY ‘PIPPA AND TOM/MICHAEL’!
* She was stabbed by a gang member! HOW VERY SURPRISINGLY ‘COMPTON’!
* She’s the principal of Summer Bay High! HOW VERY ‘SUSAN KENNEDY’!