Following the star’s recent DUI charge, Kate Ritchie’s lucrative deal with a major skincare company appears to have been quietly terminated.
The Australia’s Got Talent judge and Nova drive host, who joined QV Skincare as a brand ambassador in 2016, has been taken off of all of the company’s online and social media marketing campaigns.
The former Home and Away star is also absent from the official QV Skincare Instagram account, which was established in 2017.
Ritchie, meanwhile, removed all mentions of the company from her personal social media accounts.
The alleged breakup occurs just a few days after Ritchie, 44, was arrested by police in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs for drunk driving.
After she was pulled over by police in her blue Subaru station wagon on August 22 for a random breath test, the Nova personality exploded.
She was detained right away and taken to the Maroubra Police Station where she underwent a secondary breath test. The result showed a positive reading of 0.06, which is just a little bit over the permitted limit of 0.05.
According to reports, Ritchie received an immediate $600 fine and a three-month driving suspension.
In a later Instagram post, she apologized for her behavior and claimed she made a “poor decision.”
The popular Australian presenter’s $1 million-per-year radio gig is also reportedly “under review” at Nova as she and the network begin contract negotiations, so the blow to her public image couldn’t have come at a worse time for her career.
The former soap opera star, who took Marty Sheargold’s place in 2020, co-hosts Nova’s drive show with Tim Blackwell and relative newcomer Joel Creasy.
However, an industry insider cited Ritchie’s “extended absences” from the airwaves as one of the red flags against her reputation, along with the high salary package that has been steadily increasing over the years.
Ritchie took seven consecutive weeks off from her late-afternoon shift at one point in 2020, which one radio personality called “unheard of.”
More recently, during the height of the ratings season, she took an unexplained break of three weeks.
Ritchie’s replacement on the Kate, Tim, and Joel was quickly denied by a Nova representative, who insisted Ritchie was ‘collaborating’ with her management to balance her radio commitments with a planned’return to her acting roots’.
While we typically avoid responding to this kind of baseless rumor or confirming our presenter lineup for 2023, we have no plans to alter the Kate, Tim, and Joel drive show or Kate’s position within the program.
As part of the long-standing QV agreement, Ritchie introduced the popular Together We’re Stronger campaign, which highlighted the value of skin-to-skin contact in fostering connections and sharing moments with loved ones “throughout the various stages of life.”
In a statement at the time, Ritchie said, “As a proud QV ambassador, I’m passionate about the new campaign which celebrates the strength that comes from those around us, and the amazing role our skin plays in fostering those close connections.”
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ego Pharmacuticals, the parent company of QV Skincare, for a response.
Additionally, Ritchie’s management has been contacted for comment.