Ruby Wax, a comedian and actress, appears in the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! The star’s complicated and occasionally heartbreaking love life is examined by Camp, The Mirror.
Ruby Wax’s love life has been as colourful as her infamous interviews. As this year’s I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! campmates get settled in the jungle, there’s already one star who is proving to be a favourite among viewers – the ever-candid comedian, actress and author Ruby Wax. And it will perhaps come as no surprise to fans that the 72-year-old has led an equally wild life away from the cameras.
Ruby is already causing quite a stir down in Oz, leaving some viewers divided over her ‘disrespectful’ treatment of YouTube campmate Angry Ginge, whom she jokingly asked to “get out of [her] way” in front of the cameras. Others, however, simply can’t get enough of Ruby’s cheeky sense of humour, which will likely keep things lively in the camp. But who is Ruby behind the laughter?
The showbiz veteran has endured many heartaches as well as two failed marriages and a nightmare nanny who wants to end their relationship. However, the mother of three has now been happily married.
Here, the Mirror takes a look at Ruby’s complicated love life, which began with a teenage romance with a gay footballer.
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First boyfriend of the “prom queen”
Ruby, who was born in Evanston, just outside of Chicago, described her first romance as a 15-year-old with “gorgeous football player” Alan, who later admitted to being gay in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald.
Ruby revealed that she was his prom queen and that she had a history of sex and relationships when she was younger. He ultimately preferred to be a prom queen.
‘Traumatic’ discovery that caused divorce
Ruby left her home at the age of 17 and started making her own life in the UK, studying at Glasgow’s Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company, where she worked alongside thespian legends like her late best friend, Alan Rickman. However, she had a lot of “bad luck” dating men when she was just twenty-one, and one of her three marriages sadly ended with a heartbreaking discovery.
Ruby remarked, “I went out with a lot of gay men because they made me laugh.” [Wax married and divorced twice between 1976 and 1986], so I even got married to one so he could get a work permit. I told him we have the same genital preferences and that he had seen male pornography under the mattress in our bedroom. I never learned how to handle or react to it, which was tragic for me.
From 1976 to 1980, the comedienne wed actor-director Andrew Porter. She later acknowledged that this was a “marriage of convenience,” with the intention of obtaining a work permit, as previously reported by the Sunday Mirror. After that, she wed Englishman Trevor Walton for a brief period of time so he could obtain a work permit.
Third-time lucky
Ruby met her third husband, British film and television producer and director Ed Bye, while filming her popular sitcom Girls On Top in the late 1980s. Ruby recalled saying, “I didn’t think he was interested in me,” in a 1993 interview with The Independent. Eddy loves you, and I said, “Get out of here, Joan,” when it was Joan Greenwood. She said, “Oh no, you must go out with Eddy,” so I began to become interested in Joan’s request.
Ruby explained that as her feelings for Ed changed, so did her wardrobe, which included a padded bra and a more glamorous on-set appearance. Ed shared his side of the story, noting that he was initially nervous when he first met his “spiky” future wife at the home of her co-star Dawn French. Also, he said, the attraction wasn’t instant.
Indeed, Ed, who directed Ruby in Girls On Top, initially feared that Ruby was trying to get him kicked out of the entire series because he was “incompetent and inadequate.” The former unimpressed Ruby was full of compliments for Ed’s directing abilities after the second show, which turned out to be a success, and it was obvious that their dynamic had changed.
The pair’s first romantic scene was shared at the party where the series ended. It’s difficult to say who made the first move, but we kind of merged, according to Ed. Although I don’t remember the exact name of the first romantic moment, the kiss, took place in the hotel room in Nottingham. Since then, we have been friends.
In the spring of 1988, the couple wed and welcomed three children: a son named Max, 37, and Madeline, 35, and Marina, 32, who both followed their famous mother’s footsteps as independent actors and comedians.
This time, the couple had a keepsake, and Ruby revealed the secrets to their long and successful union in The Sun’s Fabulous magazine in 2021. Ruby described their relationship as “unconventional,” saying, “He has his friends. We don’t allegedly share the same tastes, in my opinion. We both know our careers are different. Although we are together, we have different tastes and jobs, which is acceptable. I don’t really consider myself to be Mrs. Bye.
suffocated by rumors
Ruby and Ed have, like any marriage, experienced a few ups and downs, and a rumored “nanny from hell” allegedly attempted to break her marriage in 2011. Ruby told The Standard in 2012 that she would not believe any of the reports about our marriage ending. Ed and I are close, but our nanny turned out to be insane. She informed me that her stepfather had abused her on day three. Ed called the nanny agency to lodge a grievance. And that is when things really got ugly.
She continued, “I’d had wonderful nannies for years. I don’t know why, but I do occasionally see jealousy. She was obviously extremely enraged when I fired her. But she never claimed that we had home row rows because we hardly ever do so.
She claimed that I had an affair, but she refuted that claim. You can only imagine the tension Ed and I created with this accusation, despite how unsupported it be. She created it entirely. However, Ed and I are now stronger because of it, and that’s all we’ve done.
Do you have a tale to tell? Contact me at julia@gmail.com. banim@reachplc.com Follow Mirror Celebs on Threads, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Snapchat.
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