RUBY IS HATE TARGET; 'EXCLUSIVE: Woman wants to destroy me'

RUBY WAX says she is the target of a hate campaign which is threatening to destroy her marriage.

The TV comic told friends how a former employee has set out to wreck her life and said: "This woman wants to destroy me."

Ruby, 48, opened her heart after recent reports suggested her 13- year marriage to TV director Ed Bye is in trouble. The American star has reportedly become close to internet boss Christian Auchincloss, 32, with whom it is claimed she spent a holiday.

Now friends say a hate campaign against Ruby by _ a former employee to her three children has put added pressure on the relationship with Ed, who has directed her TV shows.

Ruby said someone sent a sex aid through the post to one of her business associates and made it seem as though it had come from the star. "Thank God the associate confronted Ruby about it or she might never have known," said a friend. "When she was told Ruby completely freaked. She lost it and was in shock."

The marital difficulties surfaced last week when Ruby blurted out her fears for her relationship with to colleagues.

The friend added: "She was in floods of tears."

At the couple's home in London's Notting Hill yesterday Ed said: "My wife is not having an affair and that is that."

Copyright 2001 MGN LTD
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.