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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Lifestyle
Lydia Spencer-Elliott

Ruby Wax reveals why she was once kicked off Donald Trump’s private jet

Getty

Ruby Wax has revealed she was once thrown off Donald Trump’s private jet after she laughed at his plans to become president of the United States.

The TV personality, 71, had been mid interview with The Apprentice businessman, who went on to be president from January 2017 to January 2021, when she misinterpreted his political ambition as a joke.

Trump subsequently terminated the interview with Wax early and ordered for his private plane to be grounded in order to eject her from the jet.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Wax called the incident the “worst encounter” she’d ever had with a celebrity and said it had been an “interesting situation” but “not one to repeat”.

“It’s awful to be in his eyeline and for him to be sending hatred towards you is not pleasant,” she said, claiming Trump’s eyes were telling her “‘I’m going to rip your throat out.’”

“It was very hard to ask questions in that kind of climate. It was awful. It backfired. Who knew he would become president?” the comedian added.

“He said he wanted to be president, and I started laughing, and it turned into a hate match from there on,” she continued.

Donald Trump and Ruby Wax in 1996 ((BBC/Jonathan Furniss/PA))

“I thought he was kidding, but he made his pilot land, and he threw me off.”

Wax had previously told The Independent her interview with Trump was a “car crash” but maintained “bad interviews still make good TV”.

“I just think it’s appalling, and it’s what not to do,” she said. “He threw me off his plane. I thought he was joking when he said he wanted to be the president. I thought he was being funny – and he wasn’t.”

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Wax said she was once thrown off Trump’s private jet after she laughed at his plans to become president (ITV)

Last year, Wax reflected on how her “violent” childhood had impacted her during an appearance on Life Stories with Kate Garraway.

Wax said: “[My parents] took the war from Europe and brought it to the kitchen.”

She spoke of “verbal grenades” that her parents “slung” at one another, with her in the middle, adding: “Especially because I was born into the land of the free and the brave and I could have a really great life and they were nipped in the bud at 22, so they wanted to make it hard.”

The Girls on Top star said that if it weren’t for her “ambition and the drive of a Rottweiler to survive”, she could have died while living under her parents’ roof.

“I have a long line of suicide on my dad’s side so yeah it would have happened. If I stayed there, I wouldn’t have made it. And I got out.”

Anyone who requires help or support can contact the National Domestic Abuse Helpline which is open 24/7 365 days per year on 0808 2000 247 or via their website, nationaldahelpline.org.uk

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