NOVA has announced that Australian artist and TV host Ricki-Lee Coulter is replacing Kate Ritchie on their National Drive Show.
She will be presenting the show alongside established hosts Tim Blackwell and Joel Creasey and the show will be called ‘Ricki-Lee, Tim & Joel’.
When the show was hosted by Ritchie, Blackwell and Creasey, it reached number one nationally for 46 consecutive surveys since launching in 2012. The team had also been recognised with 11 Australian Commercial Radio Awards (ACRAs).
Speaking of the new appointment, Coulter said: “I love Tim and Joel like the brothers I never had but always wanted, and I have been having so much fun in the studio with them – they are the best in the business! I have so much love for Kate and I’m so happy I’ve been able to help out on the Drive show over the last year. I am pumped to be officially joining the Nova family!”
In a statement, Creasey and Blackwell added: “Is there anything this girl can’t do? We’re so stoked that Ricki can fit us in around her current schedule of ‘world domination’. Music, TV and now radio with us. Her energy gets us all up and about each and every day…fingers crossed we can both keep up!”
Coulter is a multi-platinum selling ARIA nominated singer and songwriter and was discovered on Australian Idol in 2004. She has since become a household name and is one of Australia’s most beloved pop stars. She has sold millions of records globally and has almost 100 million streams of her music. Along with her music career, Ricki-Lee has also hosted Australian Idol and Australia’s Got Talent.
In October, Richie revealed that she would be stepping away from the drive show, but said she would return in 2023.
“This past year has been incredibly hectic and full-on for both me and my family,” she said. “I have had much change and increased stress in my life, like many of you, in a short space of time. And it has taken its toll,” she said in a statement.
It continued, “And as you may have guessed, I invest a lot of emotional energy into everything I do, my work, and my family especially, and the last few months I have been working on radio, I’ve been returning to TV, and in my spare time, I even wrote a children’s book.”
She concluded: “Nova has been fabulous and understanding, so thank you Nova, and thank you Tim, Joel and the team, and most importantly, thank you to all of our fabulous listeners. I really mean that.”
The radio station has shared that they will soon release the details of Ritchie’s next project.
