In her 90s heyday, American comedian Ruby Wax made headlines for her fearless celebrity interviews with the likes of Madonna and Donald Trump, and today she has two particular stars on her dream interviewee list.
Speaking exclusively to HELLO!, the 72-year-old comic, writer and actress reveals that if she were to reprise her legendary show Ruby Wax Meets… she'd have certain requirements.
Ruby Wax is known for her no-holds-barred interviews
"Somebody who would be honest with me, be human," she tells us. "That's the whole point, I think, of a great interview… probably Lady Gaga and probably Obama.
"I'm sure they have a ground floor, and they wouldn't be afraid of showing it because they're talented. One's brilliant and one's talented, and I think when you've got the security of that, you're able to let go of your image."
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London-based Ruby, who is currently on a UK tour of her show Ruby Wax: Absolutely Famous from March until July in which she reflects on her most famous interviews, has branched out from the world of showbusiness in recent years: she holds a Master’s degree in mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and even runs retreats from her own home.
The star, who is married to British film and TV producer Ed Bye with whom she shares three children, Max, 37, Marina, 35, and Madeleine, 32, has openly spoke about her own mental health battle with depression and bipolar, leading her to create The Frazzled Café - an online community people can connect in a safe, supportive space.
It's through her charity that she connected with Big Give – a match funding where donations to charities are doubled thanks to philanthropic donors.
As a new Big Give ambassador, Ruby is supporting their current campaign Earth Raise, which runs from 22-29 April and involves 330 charities raising funds for environmental causes.
Here, Ruby chats celebrities, family and causes close to her heart…
Ruby, tell us about your new theatre show Ruby Wax: Absolutely Famous
"We're showing clips that you wouldn't have seen before and we're talking about the nature of fame - and yet it comes with an illness and it's addictive and not necessarily good for your health.
"The show isn't just pointing to clips, but we're discussing what's underneath, what's going on in their mind. Then we have the clips that aren't necessarily the ones seen on television, so you can really see how the minds of the famous and infamous work."
Ruby Wax is supporting the Big Give's new campaign Earth raise
You once gave Tom Hanks a tour of your hotel suite during his interview…
"That was completely scripted because he didn't want to be interviewed or he wasn't very good at it.
"It was a very Ab Fab sketch where he was told he had to laugh at everything I said because, you know, I wasn't very healthy in the head! So he became hysterical whenever I opened my mouth.
"A lot of it was scripted when they didn't want to be interviewed."
"It's unusual for somebody to go from show business to teaching mindfulness"
Have you stayed friends with any of your interviewees?
"Carrie [Fisher] was my best friend and she died. We were best friends after that interview and we stayed friends. Roseanne [Barr] and Goldie [Hawn] I still talk to."
Ruby Wax starred in the 2025 series of I'm a Celebrity
You were known for spending the day before an interview with your famous interviewee – what was that like?
"Well, for example, with OJ Simpson, we had dinner with him and a lot of women were very interested in OJ. There was a queue to meet him at the restaurant and [they] said this happens every night.
"When I drove around with him in the white Bronco that he did his famous escape in, clearly, I reminded him of Marcia Clark, who was his prosecutor. He sort of wanted to confess to me and he takes me really close to the edge. He wanted me to nail him and say, 'Yes, you did do it'.
"We drove by the house where the murder took place about three times. He told the driver to go by and kept saying 'This is where it happened'."
Your daughters Marina and Madeleine are in a comedy act called Siblings – what's that like for you?
"Oh my God, well, I'm not allowed to give notes because I'm an idiot, I don't know anything. They're very much like French and Saunders is what they're like; they do characters. They're not like me - God knows what I do - but they're more talented than I was. So good luck to them."
You say the secret to your marriage with husband Ed is having your own lives. There must be some romance…
"Well, after all these years, I wouldn't say it's romantic. Work-wise he's brilliant because he directed me in the first place. So if I need help, I go to him.
"I do cruises now where I speak on them. I'm going on my second one, so he'll go along because he's a people watcher too. We like to observe, especially when it's wacky, when it's a little crazy. We both like watching that person."
"Travel, that's my thing. I'm going to Japan with my son. I've been there before, but I'm going to places that aren't on the tourist trail.
"Then Washington because my daughter-in-law is Katy Balls who is Washington Editor of The Sunday Times, so I'm going to go visit her and my son."
You've been open about your own mental health struggles. Tell us about your charity Frazzled…
"We hold a space where people can express themselves and come and meet others in the same situation. It doesn't mean that you're having a mental breakdown; it just means that you're frazzled, which is stress about stress - a new phenomenon.
"It's a little like AA in a sense that to speak out loud means it's not such a stigma.
"Go on to frazzlecafe.org. It's free and you meet, there'll be a facilitator and you just speak. You can be anonymous, and yet to say your truth is such a relief, it's like letting air out of a tire. You see people going, 'I'm finally heard'."
When did you become interested in studying mental wellness?
"I always said that'll be my treat at the end of my TV career. Once the TV career after 25 years started to subside, I decided I had to study this.
"I trained in mindfulness and neuroscience at Oxford. I like the neuroscience because to me that's the proof of what a specific modality does. I need proof. I don't have time to taste everything."
Ruby Wax with her daughters Maddy and Marina
You hold retreats at your Notting Hill home – tell us more
"If they go on rubywax.net, they can come. We give lunch and I'm really good at training people.
"I don't like the word mindfulness; mind training is better because otherwise our minds just take over and run with us. It's a way of pulling the reins a little bit and coming back to the driver's seat - to be able to deal with all these, with the chaos, and not get caught up in it."
Why did you become a Big Give ambassador?
"Big Give has been a salvation for me and my charity, so to be able to take part in this is a real honour. I begged them to let me be ambassador.
"With Big Give, when you give money for your charity, they double it. I've never actually come across anything like that. I think it's remarkable."
Tell us abut the Earth Raise campaign
It's the biggest environmental fundraising campaign in the UK and we're hoping to raise £10million in one week this year.
"The environment is an emergency, but everybody's ignoring it. People feel a bit helpless about the environment; it's such a vast problem. Here is a practical, tangible way where you can do something, take some action."
What's next for you?
"Like everybody else, I'll probably do a podcast at some point, but I need to always fill the hole where nobody's gone. I don't like imitating.
"When I did the show in the 90s, nobody had done that before, and it's unusual for somebody to go from show business to teaching mindfulness. I want to go somewhere where it's unique again so that I can discover it myself rather than imitate it."
Ruby Wax has joined Big Give, which runs the UK's biggest fundraising appeals, as an ambassador.
Its current campaign, Earth Raise, runs till noon on April 29. To donate to any of over 330 environmental charities taking part and have your money doubled, visit www.biggive.org
© Zoe McConnell
© ITV
© Getty Images, Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
