Celebrated interviewer Ruby Wax has shared a disturbing anecdote from her 1998 encounter with OJ Simpson, recalling the 'insane' moment the former NFL star pretended to stab her with a banana shortly after his acquittal for double murder.
The Bizarre Post-Interview Incident
Wax, now 72, recounted the story to fellow contestants on I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!, describing how Simpson planned the morbid joke after their formal interview concluded. 'After we finished filming, Simpson said to me that he has a surprise for me - and I genuinely was surprised,' Wax revealed. 'I think it was his idea of a joke.'
The television personality explained that Simpson had initially searched for a knife to use in the prank but, finding none available, grabbed a banana instead. In a resurfaced video clip, Simpson can be seen making screeching noises while pretending to stab Wax with the fruit, grinning directly at the camera throughout the unsettling performance.
A Complicated Character and Troubling Encounters
Wax met Simpson in 1998, four years after his highly publicised acquittal for the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. Despite being found not guilty in the criminal trial, Simpson was later found liable for the deaths in a civil court.
Wax described the former football star as 'the most complicated character on earth' and shared several troubling interactions beyond the banana incident. She alleged that Simpson once phoned her on April 1st and said, 'I killed her, April Fools!'
During their initial meeting, Wax recalled Simpson reciting a poem about Lizzie Borden, an American woman acquitted of axe murders in 1892. 'Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks; When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one,' Simpson reportedly told her.
Reflections on a Notorious Figure
Wax believed Simpson might have wanted to be caught for the crimes. 'I think he wanted me to bust him,' she told her campmates. 'I thought I could bust him. I thought he'd say on air 'Yes he did it', and I'd get him in jail. So I was being public defender.'
The recollection comes as news broke of Simpson's death at age 76 on April 10th after a short battle with prostate cancer. His family confirmed he passed away surrounded by his children and grandchildren at his home in Las Vegas.
Wax's stories prompted admiration from viewers and fellow contestants alike. Fellow campmate Alex Scott commented in the Bush Telegraph: 'I loved watching Ruby Wax Meets. I grew up watching all her documentaries.'
Fans took to social media to call Wax an 'icon' and urged television bosses to consider reviving her interview series, with one writing: 'ITV need to recommission Ruby Wax Meets...'
During the same conversation, Wax also reflected on her 1999 interview with Donald Trump, whom she described as having 'total insanity and anger and arrogant' after he revealed his presidential ambitions. She admitted laughing at his political aspirations, which she initially believed to be a joke.
