Away from the TV sets and shows, Ruth Madeley is loved-up with her husband whom she has known since they were five years old18:14, 27 Jul 2026Ruth Madeley is a familiar face on TV screens - but who is her husband?‌The talented actress has appeared in countless shows over the years, including Years and Years, Doctor Who and Don't Take My Baby. Currently, she’s playing psychologist Dr Gabs Fox in the new gripping BBC thriller The Rapture.‌Away from the TV sets and shows though, Ruth, who has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair, loved-up with her husband Joe Lawrence, whom she has known since they were five years old.‌Unlike his wife Ruth, Joe doesn’t work in showbiz or the acting world. He is the owner of a company that trains people to operate cranes and for many years he was also a motorbike racer.“I am very lucky – but don’t tell him that,” she told MailOnline in 2022. Talking about his motorbike racing career, Ruth added: “He’s a lunatic. When he raced, I was in the pit lane going, ‘Thirty miles an hour’s fast enough!’ I’m frightened of everything, he’s frightened of nothing, so we balance each other out.‌“My job is his idea of hell. He’s the perfect combination of so unbelievably proud of me, but also so nonchalant about the whole thing.”In 2024, after 12 years together, Ruth and Joe made things official and tied the knot. She told The Guardian earlier this year: “I wanted to get married; it took Joe a little longer to decide that that was going to happen.‌“We were friends forever, we were always going to end up together, and obviously now he thinks that what I’m doing for a living is absolutely hysterical. He’s not an actor, he’s very grounded, it’s nice to be able to go home and not talk about it.”Meanwhile in 2023, Ruth gave a rare insight into her relationship with Joe, revealing she "could not stop crying" while on holiday, joking that Joe was "sick to death of me".‌Talking on the Journey to the Magic podcast, Ruth opened up about going on holiday to Walt Disney World Orlando, revealing she had the best time and accessibility wasn't an issue for her.Speaking to host Giovanna Fletcher, Ruth recalled: "Of all the times we’ve been away, I actually think the last one we went on in September was our favourite. I really think because we've not been since pre-Covid.‌“I could not stop crying. Joe, my boyfriend, was sick to death of me. I cried as soon as I walked into the Magic Kingdom."One of the best things was, two of our best friends were there at the same time, so we went to Magic Kingdom together and then I cried when we left her, even though I knew I would literally see her a week after we got home."I cried on the plane home when we had all these really well-behaved children sat around us on the plane and I'm bawling my eyes out because I don't want to come home."Article continues belowThe Rapture airs on BBC One and iPlayer from 9pm on Sunday, July 26.