The secret to Ruby Wax’s ‘unconventional’ 33-year marriage to English public school boy Ed – and how her children are following in the funnywoman’s footsteps

I’m a Celebrity is reaching a whole new audience with her performance Down Under in Get Me Out Of Here.

The 72-year-old American-British comedy icon didn’t hold back on the show as she talked about her lack of sex drive, ‘layers of Botox’ and even told her campmates, ‘I wish I were a lesbian.’

Although she playfully flirts with Aitch and AngryGinge between cases, away from the spotlight the star has been married to husband Edward Richard Morrison Bye for 33 years.

Describing their relationship as ‘unorthodox’, Ruby claimed that with their successful marriage they spend a lot of time apart and that it is ‘healthy’ to not be on top of each other all the time.

The outspoken, Chicago-born comedian, who perhaps bears a slight resemblance to herself, married Ed, a quiet-talking Englishman and public school graduate, in 1988.

They met while filming Girls On Top with Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders in 1985 and welcomed three children, Max, 7, Madeleine, 35, and Marina, 32.

They met while filming Girls On Top in 1985 and welcomed three children 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, a digital media and design university, where he taught vocational courses in television and broadcasting, as well as many more creative subjects.

Ed is Ruby’s third husband and joked that her first two marriages were only so she or her husband could get a work permit.

She was married to theater manager Andrew Porter from 1976 to 1980 and later married Trevor Walton from 1981 to 1986.

The star later began dating British film and television producer and director Ed after meeting him while working on the sitcom Girls On Top.

He directed episodes of the science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf and He has also worked on many hit shows including Bottom, The Vicar of Dibley, French and Saunders and My Family.

Closer to home, he has worked on many of Ruby’s wife’s shows, including Don’t Miss Wax, The Full Wax and Ruby.

But the couple’s romance didn’t get off to a smooth start when Ed revealed that Ruby wanted him fired when they first met.

Ruby also said one of the secrets to their successful relationship was the time they spent apart, insisting that ‘it can be healthy for relationships to have their own space’ (Photo taken in 2003)

He said: ‘I’ve got one more egg left, okay, it was really late in the day and it was dawn [French] “Well, it’s available!” he said. I literally had one egg left, so it became more attractive as time went on.’

After having an unhappy and tumultuous childhood herself, Ruby has previously shared that she learned lessons from her own childhood about how not to take care of a family and to keep her children from being neurotic.

‘They must be the first generation in my family’s history to be normal. Ed is also normal. That’s why I married him.

‘And boy, can he make me laugh. This is the last point. And it brought balance to my life. I chose it on purpose. In fact, I married a perfect wife.

‘He does all the emotional stuff with the kids; I am the productive one. His greatest talent is putting up with my nagging and thinking it’s funny. ‘Anyone else would have packed up and moved out.’

Writing in The Sydney Morning Herald in April, speaking about her marriage, she wrote: ‘When I met Ed Bye in 1988, I didn’t expect to find my happily 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 a lot of men were after me, but I lied.’

Ruby also said one of the secrets to their successful relationships is the time they spend apart, insisting that ‘it can be healthy for relationships to have their own space’.

The star defended spending time away from her husband in 2021 after the couple lived apart due to lockdown (Photo taken in 2011)

The star defended spending time away from her husband in 2021 after the couple lived apart due to lockdown.

He spent part of the first lockdown alone in a one-bedroom hostel in the countryside, far from the couple’s home in London, and said he was never “much of a texter or caller”.

In an interview with Sunday TelegraphShe said: ‘Some may find it strange that I have been away from my husband for so long. But in reality, being apart is nothing new for our marriage. We have been together for 33 years.

‘My career has involved a lot of travel and I’m not much of a texting or calling person, so we’re both used to that. ‘I think it can actually be healthy for relationships to have their own space.’

Meanwhile, in 2021, she told The Sun’s Fabulous Magazine that their relationship was “unconventional.”

He explained: ‘I have friends, he has friends. I don’t think our tastes are the same. It became clear that we both had different careers.

‘We are together but we have different tastes and jobs and that’s okay. ‘We don’t step on each other’s toes and I don’t really see myself as Miss Bye.’

Earlier this month, Ruby spoke candidly about her sex life on I’m A Celeb, admitting that once you hit menopause, the thought of sex completely disappears from your mind.

Despite leaving the industry, her daughters followed in her footsteps, with Maddy and Marina forging successful careers in showbiz (pictured in 2021)

The family also took a photo with the couple’s son Max, who moved to Washington in October.

Ruby spoke candidly about her sex life during her time on I’m A Celebrity, admitting that once you hit menopause, the thought of sex completely disappears from your mind.

Our campmate Lisa Riley asked: ‘What do you do when the guy’s feeling funky?’

“Tell him to fuck off or you’ve got herpes,” Ruby joked, adding that it was “liberating.”

Ed also stood firmly by Ruby’s side during her well-publicized struggle with clinical depression.

Ruby said she had no ‘epiphany’ to help her overcome her mental health disorder and at some points she didn’t know whether to ‘get a manicure or jump off a cliff’.

During this period, the star discovered mindfulness and cognitive therapy, recalling how Ed took her from the Order to a mindfulness course in her pajamas.

“Ed would come and pick me up from the cult,” Ruby said. ‘I’d wear a coat over my pajamas and everyone would say, ‘You’re so brave,’ and she’d take me on a four-week mindfulness course.

‘I came up with the idea around week eight, no miracle but I got the idea and the science became very interesting.’

She left showbiz and graduated from Oxford University’s Kellogg College in 2013 with a master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Eldest daughter Maddy also manages the PR side of the podcast and is also a comedy producer at Impatient Productions, an award-winning radio, podcast, live and online comedy boutique producer.

The duo are taking their Edinburgh Fringe tour, Dreamweavers, on the road in the new year after receiving five-star reviews at the festival.

Although they left the industry, their daughters followed in their footsteps, with Maddy and Marina pursuing successful careers in showbiz.

The girls have appeared on major TV shows and also have their own comedy podcast called The Brothers’ Comedy.

Eldest daughter Maddy also manages the PR side of the podcast and is also a comedy producer at Impatient Productions, an award-winning radio, podcast, live and online comedy boutique producer.

Marina cemented her status as a successful actress after portraying Pandora Henry in Prime Video’s The Girlfriend, starring alongside House of the Dragon star Olivia Cooke and American star Robin Wright.

Wonka also starred in Hulu’s series We Were The Lucky Ones and Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy.

Maddy also appeared in the TV series Coming Of Age and Pulped: Bad Tech, and had a smaller role in the short film Quiet Life.

Following the five-star reviews they received at the festival, the duo is taking their Edinburgh Fringe tour, Dreamweavers, on the road in the new year.

Speaking proudly about their children 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. I wouldn’t encourage them if they weren’t funny, but they are.

‘When they are all gathered for dinner, [brother] ‘Max is laughing so hard he’s crying.’