Katie Ritchie’s toy boy ‘young enough to be her son’ according to fans

Former Home and Away star Kate Ritchie, 42, recently went public with her new boyfriend, John Bell, 25.

And the 17-year age gap has raised eyebrows among Kate’s fans, with many joking that her new beau looks young enough to be her son.

‘Definitely thought this was her son!’ one person wrote on social media.

‘Younger the better!’ joked another fan, adding several crying-with-laughter emojis.

One person called the couple’s romantic display ‘a bit embarrassing’, going as far as to say that John still resembles a teenager.

However, others were more positive, with one writing: ‘Good on her, whatever the case may be.’

Kate, who quietly separated from her husband Stuart Webb several months ago, was seen packing on the PDA with her much younger boyfriend as they holidayed in Byron Bay earlier this month.

The couple reportedly stayed at an Airbnb and spent most of their time on holiday relaxing by their private mineral salt pool and visiting Byron Bay’s top restaurants.

While little is known about John, resurfaced court records show he has had a minor brush with the law.

Court extracts reveal John was charged with careless driving in March 2015, but was not convicted.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, John was described as a ‘messed up teenager from little old Portland [Victoria]’ in an Instagram post by a friend last year.

John started security solutions business VIREOSS in September 2019.

He runs the company from the small town of Seymour, an hour and a half from Melbourne.