“I’m Not Ready for Real Life”: Ruby Wax’s Post-Jungle Spiral of Snogs, Flirting and Freedom After I’m A Celeb
For Ruby Wax, the jungle didn’t simply end when the cameras stopped rolling.
It followed her home.
After nearly three weeks of hunger, heat, emotional unravelling and unexpected connection inside I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, the 72-year-old comedian has admitted she’s struggling to re-enter ordinary life — and her whirlwind of flirtation, kisses and brutally honest confessions since leaving camp suggests she has no intention of shrinking quietly back into normality.
Voted out before the final but impossible to forget, Ruby Wax didn’t just participate in the 2025 series.
She defined it.
🌴 From Outsider to Emotional Core of the Jungle
When Ruby first entered camp, expectations were uncertain. A veteran comic, mental health campaigner and cultural provocateur, she was older than most of her fellow contestants — and utterly uninterested in playing a safe game.
What followed was a slow, unexpected transformation.
Ruby became:
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the camp’s emotional truth-teller
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its comic relief
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and, increasingly, its moral centre
Her off-the-cuff observations cut through jungle politics. Her willingness to expose vulnerability — panic, loneliness, longing — resonated deeply with viewers.
She didn’t perform resilience.
She questioned it.
And audiences responded.
By the time she was eliminated, many fans felt the show had lost its heartbeat.
💬 “I’m Not Ready for Real Life” — The Line That Said Everything
In the days after the finale, Ruby shared a post that felt less like a goodbye and more like a confession.
Posting behind-the-scenes photos from the wrap night, she wrote:
“How lucky am I to have spent almost three weeks in the jungle with these incredible people.”
She joked about learning jungle slang and wielding power with a tannoy — but it was her final sentence that struck hardest:
“I’m not quite ready to head back to real life just yet.”
It wasn’t a punchline.
It was an admission.
The post exploded with tens of thousands of likes and comments — not because it was funny, but because it was painfully relatable.
🤝 Friendships That Didn’t End at the Exit Bridge
The images showed Ruby glowing alongside former campmates including Jack Osbourne, Lisa Riley, Aitch and Eddie Kadi — their smiles unforced, their closeness unmistakable.
Eddie crowned her “Queen mother ❤”.
Fans begged ITV to keep her in the I’m A Celeb universe somehow — spin-offs, specials, anything.
What Ruby found in the jungle wasn’t just airtime.
It was belonging.
🧢 Kiosk Kev — And the Flirting That Refused to Die
Then came Kiosk Kev.
The Aussie farmer Ruby openly flirted with during her jungle stay quickly became a fan obsession — playful, cheeky, and surprisingly tender.
Days after the finale, Ruby reunited with him and posted a TikTok that reignited the internet.
Standing beside him, she teased:
“I left too early, didn’t I Kev?”
Kev nodded.
Social media melted.
Her caption was even bolder:
“Reunited with Kev 😍… I can keep my diary free if you want me to go back in again next year…”
At 72, Ruby Wax wasn’t flirting ironically.
She was flirting freely.
And fans loved every second of it.
💋 The Snog That Became ‘The Moment of the Series’
But nothing — nothing — topped what happened on finale night.
Asked to play a game of kiss, marry or avoid with Ant, Dec and Joel, Ruby didn’t hesitate.
Pointing straight at Declan Donnelly, she declared:
“Kiss you, because orally it’s quite superb. Those teeth — just luscious.”
The studio froze.
Dec blushed.
The audience roared.
Moments later, Ruby marched back across the set and delivered a full-on kiss — live on television.
Joel Dommett didn’t hesitate:
“That is the moment of the series.”
He was right.
It wasn’t crude.
It wasn’t desperate.
It was joyful — and utterly Ruby.
🔥 Why This Resonated So Deeply
Ruby Wax didn’t just entertain.
She challenged something unspoken in reality television — the idea that vitality, desire and chaos belong only to the young.
She showed:
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longing doesn’t expire
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reinvention doesn’t stop
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and joy doesn’t need permission
Her refusal to “fade out gracefully” became her greatest triumph.
🌱 Not Escaping Reality — Redefining It
When Ruby says she’s “not ready for real life,” she isn’t rejecting responsibility.
She’s rejecting smallness.
The jungle stripped away routine, status and expectation — and what emerged was a woman unwilling to pretend that passion and connection should quieten with age.
And now, as fans continue replaying her kiss, her jokes and her confessions, one thing feels clear:
Ruby Wax didn’t leave the jungle behind.
She carried it with her — loud, messy, human and unapologetically alive.
Because some people don’t return to real life unchanged.
They come back reclaiming it.