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Ruby Wax's Birth Name and Refugee Roots Resurface During I'm A Celebrity

Coverage reconnects her current TV turn to her parents' 1938 escape from Vienna.

Overview

  • Reports note her birth name as Ruby Wachs, with the family shortening the surname after relocating to Chicago.
  • Articles recount that her Austrian Jewish parents fled Vienna in 1938, with her father imprisoned and tortured before securing release to leave the country.
  • Her stint on I'm A Celebrity has renewed public scrutiny, with viewers divided after incidents such as taking camp sweets and gifting underwear to a fellow contestant.
  • A 2017 Who Do You Think You Are? episode traced traumatic family history, including relatives confined to an asylum and a visit to her grandfather's grave.
  • Following a career downturn, she retrained in mindfulness, earned a master's from Oxford in 2013, and received an OBE in 2015 for mental‑health advocacy.