She’s the bold, unfiltered TV icon who grilled superstars like Donald Trump, Madonna, and OJ Simpson on her groundbreaking 90s series, *Ruby Wax Meets*. But behind the glamour and sharp wit lies a story of profound tragedy, exile, and reinvention that has shaped Ruby Wax’s life in ways few fans could imagine. At 72, as she dives into the wild chaos of *I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!*, it’s time to uncover the shocking secret: her real name isn’t Ruby Wax at all—it’s Ruby Wachs. And the reason for the change? A harrowing escape from Nazi terror that haunted her family for generations.
As Ruby Wax, 72, takes part in this year’s I’m A Celebrity, it has been revealed she changed her name to Ruby Wachs
Her father, Edward Wachs and mother, accountant Berthe Goldmann, were Austrian Jews and fled Vienna in 1938 to escape Nazi threat (Ruby pictured with her parents in the 1950s)
Born to Jewish Austrian parents from Vienna, Ruby’s father, Edward Wachs—a sausage manufacturer—and her mother, Bertha Goldmann—an accountant—fled their homeland in 1938, just as the Nazi regime tightened its grip. They sought refuge in Illinois, United States, altering the spelling of their surname to “Wax” in a desperate bid to blend in and leave the horrors behind. But as Ruby has revealed, the shadows of war followed them across the ocean, turning their American home into a battlefield of emotional turmoil.
Ruby didn’t shy away from the pain in a raw interview on Jamie Laing’s podcast *Great Company*. “They were fleeing because they were Jewish and they took the war with them and brought it to our kitchen,” she confessed. “Then, finally, when I was 18, I came to London because I needed safety. They escaped out of Europe, and I escaped back into it again.” Describing her parents as “torturous,” Ruby painted a picture of a childhood marred by mind games and innocence lost—her father’s deliberate cruelty and her mother’s unwitting echoes of trauma. “I think that I have lived most of my life in a high anxiety state, and so I want to know where that came from… and I keep blaming my parents,” she added. “It would be interesting to know who they’re blaming. And I won’t stop until I figure out how these people were made and who they were.”
The full weight of her family’s nightmare came crashing down during a 2017 episode of *Who Do You Think You Are?*. Ruby discovered her father had been imprisoned and tortured in Vienna for his Jewish faith, enduring conditions so brutal that many inmates chose suicide by leaping from windows. Her mother, Bertha, suffered from what was diagnosed as “hysteria,” likely triggered by the horrors of Kristallnacht—the infamous night when Nazis shattered Jewish lives, businesses, and homes across Germany and Austria. Even more devastating, Ruby learned of her great aunt and uncle, Gabriele and Salomon Birer, who stayed behind in a futile attempt to escape. Their travel documents arrived too late; new laws barred Jews from leaving, sealing their tragic fate.
In 1999, Ruby filmed a series for BBC1 called Ruby’s American Pie, which saw her getting to meet Donald Trump – but her iconic career has never been under her real name
She said of her parents: ‘They were torturous, both of them – in my mother innocently and my dad (pictured) on purpose. You know, he’d play mind games’
Until that eye-opening journey, Ruby—now a mother of three with her TV producer husband Ed Bye—had no inkling of this hidden history. Her parents, who passed away without sharing their stories, left her grappling with anger and confusion. “The parents I had when I was growing up do not relate at all to what I’m finding out… I just thought they were monsters,” she admitted. The episode took her to the Czech Republic, where she uncovered relatives institutionalized in asylums, mirroring her own battles with mental health. In one poignant moment, viewers watched Ruby, hailed as “courageous” and “amazing,” fight back tears while gently touching her grandfather’s headstone—a rare connection to the roots she’d long been denied.
Ruby’s life has been a rollercoaster of triumphs and trials. She skyrocketed to fame in the UK during the 90s with her outrageous BBC shows, becoming a household name for her fearless celebrity showdowns. But by the early 2000s, her TV empire crumbled, plunging her into a deep depression that led to treatment at The Priory Clinic. Rising from the depths, she reinvented herself as a mindfulness expert, earning a master’s degree from Oxford in 2013. Her advocacy for mental health earned her an OBE in 2015, and she’s since authored books, given powerful talks, and championed charities—all while being brutally honest about her struggles.
Married to Ed since 1988, Ruby shares sons Max (37) and daughters Madeleine (35) and Marina (32) with him. Now, in the steamy Australian jungle of *I’m A Celebrity*, she’s stirring up drama like never before. Fans are split: some adore her ruthless edge and deadpan humor, while others slam her antics—like sneaking a bag of Liquorice Allsorts from campmates, earning cries of “selfish,” or gifting AngryGinge her clean underwear as a quirky good-luck charm before a Bushtucker Trial, which viewers called “inappropriate and embarrassing.”
Yet through it all, Ruby Wax—or should we say Wachs?—remains a force of resilience. Her story isn’t just about fame; it’s a testament to surviving the unspeakable, confronting inner demons, and emerging stronger. For the first time, this heartbreaking truth reveals the woman behind the name, proving that sometimes, the greatest reinventions are born from the deepest pain.