Rebecca Ritters, age 41, played Hannah Martin in the hit television series Neighbours before joining for seven dramatic years in the 1990s.
She’s a Neighbours legend who shot to fame starring in the Australian soap during its golden years in the 1990s.
But now, Rebecca Ritters, who played Hannah Martin between 1992 and 1999, is almost unrecognisable in a completely different career which has taken her to some of the world’s most dangerous places, including war zones.
Rebecca, now 41, was only eight years old when she first started playing Hannah on Ramsay Street. She participated in a number of significant storylines over the course of her seven years, including the death of her mother.
Hannah’s name continues to appear in fans’ lists of the all-time most annoying Neighbor characters, a testament to young Rebecca’s acting prowess, without a doubt. According to The Herald Sun, Hannah is regarded by many as “the most annoying character ever on soap.”
In the same way, Hannah’s profile was detailed in Sky’s 2010 celebration of Neighbours’ 25th anniversary: “The majority of plots revolved around one of three scenarios: either Hannah was crying because no-one liked her at school; or Because of her conflict with Debbie, Hannah was crying. or that Hannah was crying because her father, Phil, was on a date.
After leaving Neighbours in 1999, Rebecca briefly returned in 2005 for the show’s 20th anniversary, but her acting journey didn’t end there. She appeared in other TV shows, including Coronation Street as Jules Robinson, and even toured Europe with the British Shakespeare Company in productions of Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
However, she switched from acting to journalism, which was the big plot twist. Rebecca began her career in news production after earning a degree in politics and international relations in 2015 at Deutsche Welle (DW) in Berlin, Germany.
Far from the gentle world of soap sets, she now reports from some of the most dangerous places in the world, including war zones in Ukraine and Afghanistan, as a foreign correspondent. More recently, she spent two years in Jerusalem, covering the Israel-Palestine conflict.
In September 2024, she shared a moving post about the experience on Instagram. She posted an image showing her in protective clothing with debris burning behind her
She continued, “The experience was profound in ways that I could not have imagined.” It was actually life changing, despite how cliche it sounds. Many of the outstanding local colleagues, many of whom became close friends, were a result of our efforts. and to the numerous non-work friends that were present.
Thanks, though, to the numerous strangers who had faith in me when they faced the most difficult circumstances. ”
Her DW colleagues have acknowledged that they were Neighbours fans when they were younger and are shocked to see them working alongside their pre-teen on-screen hero.
Rebecca herself claims that having spent more time with Neighbours helped her develop her storytelling skills. The fame, however, was challenging to comprehend.
She stated, “My happiest memories are with the wonderful cast and crew, and I had a great time on the show.
Up until 1999, I spent seven years on the program, which completely altered my life. Neighbours deserves a lot, but it was also challenging.
