Updated: 5 Dec 2025Author:
David Frederickson

Ruby Wax’s shock Im A Celebrity exit has fans demanding a redo as Dec hints she might be back

Ruby Wax has been voted off Im A Celebrity 2025 as the fifth star to leave the jungle, leaving campmates in tears and viewers wondering what the British public was thinking.
Spin off presenters and commentators have blasted the result, calling Ruby the main “vibe bringer” and accusing voters of ruining the energy just before the final week.
Within hours, Declan Donnelly was teasing that Ruby could make a surprise return to camp, sending fan theories into overdrive about twists, trials and secret tasks.
Ruby herself has called the exit “heartbreaking,” saying she loved the camp more than most people she knows and admitting the jungle got under her skin.
For UK viewers, it is peak reality television: a beloved comic grandma, an emotional eviction and a possible comeback arc just in time for Celebrity Cyclone and the final.

How Ruby Wax went from jungle favourite to shock eviction

A veteran comic who became the camp’s unofficial ringleader

When Ruby Wax signed up for the twenty fifth series of Im A Celebrity, the reaction was half disbelief, half “of course she did.” At seventy two, she walked into camp with decades of comedy, documentary work and mental health campaigning behind her, and somehow still managed to act like the naughtiest new kid in class.

Within days she was barking orders during chores, calling out contraband drama and turning even the dullest washing up shift into stand up. Viewers who grew up watching her interviews and sketch shows suddenly had her back on primetime, only this time ankle deep in red dirt and rice.

The eviction that stunned camp and armchair pundits

That is why it landed like a jump scare when Ant and Dec announced Ruby had received the fewest votes and would be leaving the jungle. She landed in the bottom two with Lisa Riley, then watched her name come up as the fifth person out while the camp visibly sagged around her.

Campmates cried, hugged her like a departing aunt and thanked her for holding the place together, while Ruby herself looked genuinely dazed and kept repeating that she could not believe it. At home, social feeds filled with variations of “how did we do this to ourselves,” which is a big mood for a country that has seen one or two questionable votes before.

Fans and pundits are fuming at the result

“Wrong person went home” becomes the refrain of the week

Across social media, viewers lined up to call it the worst eviction of the series so far, insisting Ruby had done more to keep morale up than several quieter campmates combined. Many argued she should have sailed through to the final purely on entertainment value, even if her Bushtucker track record was slightly allergic to stars.

Memes popped up comparing the vote to sacking the supply teacher who actually lets you have fun, just as everyone started settling in. Even people who admitted they had not voted that night were suddenly very keen to complain about the outcome, which is classic British energy.

Spin off presenters openly scold the public

On the spin off shows, hosts did not bother hiding their annoyance. One presenter admitted she was “fuming” with the public, calling Ruby one of the key “vibe bringers” in camp alongside Aitch, Angry Ginge and Tom Read Wilson.

They pointed out how quickly the mood dipped when Ruby left, with several jungle mates visibly deflated and one or two in tears. It is rare to see the official after show essentially telling the audience they made a terrible decision, and it made the whole thing feel even more like a shared national mistake.

Declan Donnelly quietly drops a comeback hint

A throwaway tease that launched a thousand theories

Just when the mood was settling into resigned sadness, Declan Donnelly sprinkled petrol on the fire by hinting that Ruby might not be done with the jungle. A cheeky on air tease about possible surprises got fans immediately speculating about a return twist.

The timing is suspiciously perfect, with only a few days until the final, Celebrity Cyclone looming and producers clearly keen to keep the buzz high. The idea of Ruby marching back into camp in a cape, ready to shout instructions during the slippery madness, is now living rent free in half the countrys brain.

What kind of twist fans are imagining

Fan theories range from a full camp return for one last challenge to a guest judge role on a supersized trial, with Ruby dishing out scores and sarcastic commentary from the sidelines. Others think she might front a secret mission that lets remaining celebs win luxuries or messages from home.

None of this is confirmed, of course, but that has never stopped the internet from building entire story arcs out of one suggestive sentence and a raised eyebrow. If the producers were looking for a way to keep the show trending into the final weekend, letting Dec dangle Ruby like a carrot was a very efficient move.

Ruby’s own reaction: heartbreak and unexpected attachment

“I love them more than people I know” is doing emotional damage

In post exit interviews, Ruby has sounded both devastated and slightly surprised by how deeply the jungle got under her skin. She has compared leaving camp to being ripped from the womb, which is an image nobody needed but absolutely fits her brand.

She has also admitted that she loves her campmates more than most people she knows in real life, which hit viewers right in the feelings. For someone who has spent years talking openly about mental health and connection, it is clear that the bizarre pressure cooker of bugs, boredom and basic rations gave her a new odd little family.

Owning her messy Bushtucker record

Ruby has also leaned into the comedy of being, politely, not the most successful trial queen the show has ever seen. She set an unwanted record with one challenge, bringing back fewer stars than any previous celeb in that particular setup, and laughed about it even as viewers cringed behind cushions.

It is that mix of self roast humour and vulnerability that made people bond with her so quickly. Yes, she screamed at people during chores, but she also apologised, cuddled them afterwards and then made jokes about being a tyrant with a soft centre.

The non romance that fans tried to manifest

Shona, Aitch and the ship that never set sail

Because viewers will ship anything that moves, fans quickly started rooting for a jungle romance between Shona McGarty and rapper Aitch after some light flirting and banter. Cameras caught playful moments, Ant and Dec egged it on, and the internet did what it always does with two attractive people sharing screen time.

Ruby has now cheerfully torpedoed that storyline, revealing that off camera Shona confided that Aitch is not her type and that she prefers hunkier men. Ruby even joked that she had hoped to marry them off and raise a jungle baby, but had to admit defeat when neither party showed genuine interest.

Why Ruby as matchmaker was the real romance arc

In a way, the most wholesome bond was not between any potential couple but between Ruby and the younger campmates she adopted. She described herself as a mum figure to several of them, cheering them through wobbly moments and gently roasting them when they deserved it.

That cross generational dynamic gave the series some of its funniest and most unexpectedly sweet scenes, especially when Ruby shared hard won wisdom in between ranting about stolen sweets. Losing her at this stage feels less like a simple vote result and more like someone deleting the group chats funniest member.

What it means for the final days in camp

Energy shift as the show heads into endgame

With Ruby gone and another contestant already following her out of the jungle, the camp has shrunk to a tight core of finalists. The dynamic is noticeably quieter, with fewer chaotic monologues and more introspective chats around the fire.

That might suit some viewers who prefer a calmer build up to the crown, but for many it is a reminder of how much a single big personality can shape the tone of a series. If the promised twists do not land, the show risks feeling slightly hollow just as it reaches the Celebrity Cyclone and the coronation of the new king or queen.

Celebrity Cyclone in capes without their chaos captain

One of the main questions now rattling around fan forums is how Celebrity Cyclone will hit without Ruby in the line up. The trial is already famously chaotic, with stars battling fake storms and giant fans in superhero capes while trying to drag stars up a slippery hill.

Ruby shrieking instructions and insults during that would have been instant classic television. Unless that Dec hint pays off, viewers will have to content themselves with imagining the version where she slides backwards down the slope yelling about mindfulness and lost ration chocolate.

Why this storyline is trending far beyond jungle obsessives

A perfectly British blend of comedy, pathos and mild outrage

Even people who are not glued to every episode of Im A Celebrity are paying attention to this one. On paper, you have an older comic legend, a public vote people immediately regretted and a possible second act dangled by a cheeky host.

It hits the national sweet spot of being funny, a bit tragic and mildly infuriating all at once. Add in Ruby’s long standing reputation in UK entertainment and her open discussions of mental health, and the story gains more emotional weight than your average reality exit.

A reminder that reality television still knows how to hook us

For all the talk about franchise fatigue, this season has proved the format still works when casting, timing and narrative collide. A single eviction in week three can ripple across group chats, radio phone ins and gossip columns for days, especially when the departing star is as quotable as Ruby.

Whether or not she sets foot in camp again this year, the storyline has already cemented her run as the defining presence of the series. Somewhere in an edit suite, producers are stitching together a highlight reel that will probably make half the nation cry laugh through the credits.

References. A list of references and links used

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