Katherine Leigh Ritchie is an Australian actress, radio presenter, and children's author. She is best known for her long-running role as original character Sally Fletcher on the television soap opera Home and Away, for which she won two Gold Logie awards. She played the character for 20 years, appearing from the pilot episode in 1988 until 2008. Ritchie is currently part of Nova FM's national drive show, Kate, Tim & Joel with Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey. Prior to her retirement from Home and Away, she shared with fellow original cast members Ray Meagher and Norman Coburn the record (recognised by Guinness World Records) for the longest continuous role in an Australian drama series. After a five-year absence, Ritchie returned to Home and Away in 2013 for a short reprise of her role as Sally Fletcher to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the series. In addition to 20 years on Home and Away, Ritchie has also hosted various television events and appeared in commercials, a mini-series and an Australian film. She has also been involved with the Campbelltown Musical Society. Early life Ritchie was born as Katherine Leigh Ritchie. Her parents are Heather and Steve, and she has three younger siblings, Rebekah, Stuart and Susan. Ritchie attended Campbelltown North Public School and Hurlstone Agricultural High School – the latter a New South Wales agricultural and selective school. Career 1986–2007 Ritchie was cast as Molly, the child lead in the 1986 Nine Network–PBL mini-series Cyclone Tracy, starring Chris Haywood and Tracy Mann. She started working with Home and Away in 1987, at age 8. Production began in July 1987 (shortly before her ninth birthday) and it premiered on the Seven Network on 17 January 1988. In 2006, Ritchie played "Nicole" in the ABC film Stepfather of the Bride. Whilst promoting Home and Away in the United Kingdom in 2006 with Mark Furze and Jodi Gordon, Ritchie appeared on The Friday Night Project and Loose Women, and appeared on interviews for Five and Five Life. In 2006, Ritchie was a contestant on the celebrity singing competition It Takes Two, partnered with Troy Cassar-Daley. The pair placed fourth in the competition. She co-hosted the second series of It Takes Two with Grant Denyer in 2007. In 2007 Ritchie joined Nova radio to co-host the drive show with comedian Akmal Saleh, replacing Matthew Newton. She was replaced in May by New Zealand comedian Cal