She’s reaching a whole new audience with her appearance Down Under on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!
The American-British comedy icon, 72, hasn’t held back on the show as she discussed her lack of sex drive, ‘layers of Botox’ and even told her campmates ‘I wish I was a lesbian’.
And while she may be playfully flirting with Aitch and AngryGinge in between trials, away from the spotlight the star has been married to her husband Edward Richard Morrison Bye for 33 years.
Describing their relationship as ‘unconventional’, Ruby has credited spending lots of time apart with their successful marriage, claiming it is ‘healthy’ to not always be on top of each other.
Perhaps a slight juxtaposition to herself, the outspoken Chicago-born comic tied the knot with the quietly-spoken, British and public school-educated Ed in 1988.
They met in 1985, when she was filming Girls On Top with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders and went on to welcome three children together Max, 7, Madeleine, 35, and Marina, 32.
The secret to Ruby Wax’s ‘unconventional’ 33-year marriage to English public school boy Ed, whom she married in 1988 (pictured in 1996)
They met in 1985, when she was filming Girls On Top and went on to welcome three children together Max, 7, Madeleine, 35, and Marina, 32 (Madeleine and Marina pictured in 2018)
Ed’s father was Royal Marine Colonel Francis Clifford Edward Bye OBE and he attended the public Mount House School in Tavistock, Devon in the late 1960s.
He later attended Ravensbourne College of Design and Communication, now known as Ravensbourne University London, which is a digital media and design university, with vocational courses in television and broadcasting among many more creative subjects.
Ed is Ruby’s third husband, and she has joked her first two marriages were entered into only so that she or her husbands could get work permits.
She was married to theatre administrator Andrew Porter from 1976 to 1980 and later went on to marry Trevor Walton from 1981 to 1986.
The star then began dating Ed, who is as a British film and television producer and director, after they met while working on the sitcom Girls On Top.
He directed episodes of the science-fiction sitcom Red Dwarf and has also worked on a number of other hit shows including Bottom, The Vicar of Dibley, French and Saunders and My Family amongst others.
Closer to home, he worked on a number wife Ruby’s shows, including Don’t Miss Wax, The Full Wax and Ruby.
However the couple’s romance didn’t get off to the smoothest start, as Ed revealed Ruby wanted him sacked when they first met.
Ruby has also said one of the secrets to their successful relationships is the time they spend apart, insisting it can be ‘healthy for relationships to have your own space’ (pictured in 2003)
She said: ‘I had one more egg left, OK – it was really late in the day and Dawn [French] said “Well he’s available!” I literally had one egg left and so, uh, he became more and more attractive as time went on.’
After suffering an unhappy and turbulent childhood herself, Ruby previously shared how she had learned lessons from her own childhood about how not to nurture a family, and her children are not neurotic.
‘They must be the first generation in my entire family history that are normal. Ed is normal, too. That’s why I married him.
‘And boy, he can make me laugh. That’s the ultimate. And he’s brought balance to my life. I picked him on purpose. In fact, I married the perfect wife.
‘He does all the emotional stuff with the kids – I’m the efficient one. His greatest ability is to put up with my nagging and think it’s funny. Any other man would have packed up and moved out.’
Speaking about her marriage when writing in The Sydney Morning Herald back in April, she penned: ‘When I met Ed Bye in 1988, I wasn’t expecting to find my happy-ever-after.
‘I asked Ed if he wanted to marry me, told him I had an opening in my calendar, and gave him a date. I said many men were after me, but I was lying.’
Ruby has also said one of the secrets to their successful relationships is the time they spend apart, insisting it can be ‘healthy for relationships to have your own space’.
Back in 2021 the star defended spending periods of time away from her husband of after the couple lived separately for much of lockdown (pictured in 2011)
Back in 2021 the star defended spending periods of time away from her husband of after the couple lived separately for much of lockdown.
She spent part of the first lockdown alone in a one-room lodge in the countryside, away from the couple’s London home, and said that she’s never been ‘much of a texter or caller’.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, she said: ‘Some may think it odd that I was away from my husband for so long. But in truth, time apart isn’t new to our marriage. We’ve been together for 33 years.
‘My career has involved so much travel, and I’m not much of a texter or caller, so we’re both used to it. I think it can actually be healthy for relationships to have your own space.’
Meanwhile in 2021, she told The Sun’s Fabulous Magazine that their relationship is ‘unconventional’.
She explained: ‘I have my friends, he has his friends. I don’t assume we have the same tastes. It’s understood we both have different careers.
‘We’re together but we have different tastes and jobs – and that’s OK. We don’t step on each other’s toes and I don’t really see myself as Mrs Bye.’
Earlier this month Ruby spoke candidly about her sex life on I’m A Celeb as she admitted that the thought of sex completely leaves your mind once you go through the menopause
Despite leaving the industry, her daughters have followed in her footsteps with Maddy and Marina carving successful careers in the showbiz industry (pictured in 2021)
The family also pictured with the couple’s son Max, who has since moved to Washington, in October
During her time on I’m A Celebrity Ruby spoke candidly about her sex life as she admitted that the thought of sex completely leaves your mind once you go through the menopause.
Fellow campmate Lisa Riley asked: ‘What do you do when the man feels funky?’
‘Tell him to f**k off or that you have herpes,’ Ruby joked, adding it was ‘liberating’,
Ed has also stood firmly by Ruby’s side amid her well-publicised battle with clinical depression.
Ruby told that there was no ‘epiphany’ which helped her overcome her mental health disorder, and that at some points she didn’t know ‘whether to have a manicure or jump off a cliff’.
During this period the star discovered mindfulness and cognitive therapy, and has recalled how Ed took her from the Priory in her pyjamas to a course on mindfulness.
‘Ed used to come and pick me up from the Priory,’ said Ruby. ‘And I’d put a coat over my pyjamas and everyone would say “You’re so brave” and he took me to a four week mindfulness course.
‘I got the idea towards the eighth week, there is no miracle but I got the idea and the science became so interesting.’
She left the showbiz world and in 2013 graduated with a master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy from Kellogg College at Oxford University.
Eldest daughter Maddy also manages the PR side of the podcast and additionally, she is a comedy producer at Impatient Productions, an award-winning boutique producer of radio, podcasts, live & online comedy
The pair are also taking their Edinburgh Fringe tour Dreamweavers on the road in the new year after receiving five star reviews at the festival
Despite leaving the industry, her daughters have followed in her footsteps with Maddy and Marina carving successful careers in the showbiz industry.
The girls have appeared on huge TV shows and also have their own comedy podcast called Siblings Comedy.
Eldest daughter Maddy also manages the PR side of the podcast and additionally, she is a comedy producer at Impatient Productions, an award-winning boutique producer of radio, podcasts, live & online comedy.
Marina cemented her status as a successful actress after playing Pandora Henry in Prime Video’s The Girlfriend, where she stars alongside House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke and American star Robin Wright.
She has also appeared on Wonka, Hulu’s We Were The Lucky Ones, and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.
Maddy also acted in the show Coming Of Age, and Pulped: Bad Tech, as well as a smaller role in the short film Quiet Life.
The pair are also taking their Edinburgh Fringe tour Dreamweavers on the road in the new year after receiving five star reviews at the festival.
Proudly speaking about her kids in 2017, Ruby told The Guardian: ‘Maddy is a comedian and Marina is an actress.
‘Maddy and Marina have just started a comedy show called Siblings. If they weren’t funny I wouldn’t encourage them but they are.
‘When they are all round for dinner they make [brother] Max laugh so much he cries.’
