The "Daily Record"'s Merle Brown commented on Ruth saying "while they're at it, why not blow up Ruth, and put her out of her misery. Terri Dwyer, who plays her (after a fashion) is wooden as well, and seeing her painful attempts at emotional scenes is just too much to take." Brown also listed her amongst his least favourite soap characters saying "Lewis, my least favourite soap character of all time (although Ruth is right up there with him), is feeling guilty about his tryst with Lorraine and refuses to sleep with her again. Which opens the gates, methinks for Ruth to find out, and a big barney to ensue. Great. I can hardly wait to see Terri Dwyer overact her way through this one." Upon Dwyer receiving a nomination Brown later added "if Terri Dwyer wins Best Actress I shall really have to complain. How can she even be nominated?". The "Sunday Mail" commented on her time in the show saying she has had "controversial storylines" including "attempted rape, married young, kicked out by her husband over an affair, then widowed, a lesbian kiss with a 17-year-old, and now an unwanted pregnancy. No wonder the blonde babe gets most of the show's fan letters." The "Daily Mirror" commented that her Christmas return put the "cracker back into Christmas".