Kate Ritchie has a new boyfriend!
The public interest in the radio star’s love life has just shifted up a gear after she was spotted kissing a younger man during a cosy picnic in Sydney on July 19.
It’s been revealed the 45-year-old former Home and Away star is dating 30-year-old Will Skelton, a man she was set up with on-air in May 2024.
Skelton is a financial adviser for Canaccord Genuity, a Sydney-based finance services firm, according to The Daily Mail.
Photos of the loved-up pair enjoying an oceanside picnic at Clovelly confirmed they were very much an item as they kissed and cuddled on the grass.
The pair laughed and talked, looking smitten as they basked in each other’s company.
Ritchie and Skelton first met on a blind date at the NOVA FM Singles Ball at Taronga Zoo in May.
The date was orchestrated by Ritchie’s NOVA co-hosts Ryan ‘Fitzy’ Fitzgerald and Michael ‘Wippa’ Wipfli, who picked three eligible bachelors for her to choose from.
On May 28, Ritchie announced she had chosen Skelton for her date at the May 30 event.
‘’In the spirit of love, and in the spirit of bringing single people all over Sydney together, even just for a matter of hours, I would like to have the first dance … with Will from Waverton,’’ she told Skelton live on air.
‘’I won’t take up too much of your time on the night. We could just have a little quick dance and then …’’
Skelton then interjected: ‘’Nah, you can take as much time as you want. I don’t mind at all!’’
‘’I’m all about personality and Will’s got it all,’’ Ritchie said, adding: ‘’But Will, you’d better not look better than me!’’
Skelton laughed, responding: ‘’That’s impossible!’’
‘’Stop flirting, you two,’’ Wippa teased.
What might have started out as a bit of light-hearted fun, however, seems to have blossomed into a bona-fide romance.
Footage of the moment Skelton, looking dapper in a black tux, held out a single red rose to Ritchie as they met for the first time at the Singles Ball was shared to Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie’s Instagram page after the momentous occasion.
Fans loved the sweet moment, noting that Skelton looked genuinely nervous as he met the celebrity, who first burst onto Australian screens as young Sally Fletcher in Home and Away in 1987.
Dubbed by many as ‘’Australia’s sweetheart,’’ Ritchie split from her husband of 9 years, NRL player Stuart Webb, in 2019.
The pair share a daughter, Mae, who was born in 2014.
The Australia’s Got Talent judge then went on to date security consultant John Bell, who was 17 years her junior.
Their split came in December 2021 after less than a year together, before Ritchie had another brief relationship with Chevy Black.
As for Richie and Skelton, it seems the age-gap between them isn’t proving to be a problem.
A source told The Daily Mail that they were already very close, even claiming that Ritchie had used the L word.
‘’She told him she loves him and he may have told her he loves her too,’’ the source claimed.
‘’They have spent pretty much every night together lately.’’
