Gypsy Rose Blanchard: Where Is She Now in 2024?
Gypsy Rose Blanchard
The extraordinary and disturbing story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the young Missouri woman who conspired with her boyfriend to murder her mother in 2015, was chronicled in the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, and later found more mainstream attention in the 2019 Hulu miniseries The Act.
Gypsy Rose, who had spent years of her life undergoing unnecessary medical treatments as a result of her mother’s abuse, was convicted of second-degree murder in the killing of Dee Dee Blanchard. And though only a few months have passed since her release from prison in December of 2023, it’s fair to say a lot has happened. Here’s a rundown of where she is now.
Where is Gypsy Rose Blanchard now?
After being released from prison early in December 2023, Gypsy Rose Blanchard moved back to Louisiana, the state where she was born, with her then-husband Ryan Scott Anderson, from whom she's since filed for divorce. Although it's unclear what's next for her, curious onlookers will be able to find out how her post-prison life is going soon enough, as it will be chronicled in an untitled Lifetime series due out later this year.
"After a lifetime of trauma and serving her time," network executive vice president Elaine Frontain Bryant shared in a press release, "we are all rooting for Gypsy to embrace all that life has to offer and become the woman she always wanted to be."
What is the true story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard?
Gypsy Rose’s friends and neighbors in Aurora, Missouri knew her as a sickly, physically weak young girl who never left the house without her devoted mother, Dee Dee. For many years, she was confined to a wheelchair and had to use a feeding tube. The specifics of her diagnosis were unclear—according to BuzzFeed News, Dee Dee claimed that her medical records had been described in Hurricane Katrina when they’d previously lived in Louisiana—but at various times she was reported to have leukemia, muscular dystrophy and epilepsy.
It wasn’t until after Dee Dee’s death that the disturbing truth emerged: Gypsy Rose was perfectly healthy, but had been led to believe otherwise (and later pretend otherwise) by her mother. Dee Dee had subjected Gypsy Rose to years of unnecessary medical procedures, forced her into a wheelchair and denied her a normal upbringing (she didn’t attend school past second grade). Dee Dee’s behavior is suggestive of Munchausen by Proxy syndrome, a.k.a factitious disorder imposed on another, where a person fakes or induces symptoms of illness in somebody else (typically a child or other dependent).
After trying unsuccessfully to escape her mother’s control, 19-year-old Gypsy Rose began an online correspondence with Nick Godejohn, a man she met on a Christian dating site. The two communicated in secret for two years before finally meeting in real life, but when Dee Dee found out about the romance, she did not react well. “She got jealous, because I was spending a little too much attention on him,” Gypsy Rose told ABC News. “She had ordered me to stay away from him… needless to say, that was a very long argument that lasted a couple weeks. Yelling, throwing things, calling me names: bitch, slut, whore.” It was at this point, according to Gypsy Rose, that she decided her only way out was to have Dee Dee killed. “It was not because I hated her. It was because I wanted to escape her,” she said.
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What did Gypsy Rose do to her mom?
Gypsy Rose asked Godejohn to kill Dee Dee in the spring of 2015. He had a minor criminal record for disorderly conduct (he was arrested two years earlier for watching pornography at a McDonald’s) but no violent history. Nonetheless, he agreed to the murder.
That June, Godejohn traveled to Aurora, Missouri from where he lived in Wisconsin, checked into a motel, and waited. That evening, Gypsy Rose texted to confirm that Dee Dee was asleep, and Godejohn went to the Blanchards’ house. There, Gypsy Rose gave him a kitchen knife, and then hid in the bathroom with her hands over her ears while Godejohn stabbed Dee Dee to death.
"I honestly thought he would end up not doing it," Gypsy told ABC News. “I heard her scream once, and there was more screaming but not like the kind in a horror film… She called out to my name about three or four times, and at that point, I wanted to go help her so bad, but I was so afraid to get up. It's like my body wouldn't move. Then everything just went quiet."
How long was Gypsy Rose in jail for?
Gypsy Rose and Godejohn fled to his home in Big Bend, Missouri after the murder, but were arrested after just a day. In July of 2016, Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to the murder. Prosecutors in the case opted not to pursue a first-degree murder charge (which can result in the death penalty or life in prison without parole in Missouri) in light of the "extraordinary and unusual" circumstances of the killing.
Gypsy Rose was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was released on parole in December of 2023 after serving seven and a half years.
How old is Gypsy Rose Blanchard?
Gypsy Rose was born on July 27, 1991, making her 32 years old at the time of this writing. Dee Dee had lied about her daughter’s age as well as her health, routinely presenting her as much younger than she was. According to BuzzFeed News, when Gypsy Rose's father called on her 18th birthday, Dee Dee intercepted the call to "remind him that Gypsy didn’t know her true age." She told him that she believed she was 14, and asked him not to upset her by revealing the truth.
Gypsy Rose revealed in a 2017 interview with Dr. Phil that she didn’t discover her real age until she was 19. "I found a couple bits of paper in my mom's safe, things that stated I was born in 1991, which made me question my real age. I asked her about it, she said that it was a typo," Gypsy said.
How does Nick Godejohn feel about Gypsy Rose now?
Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder for killing Dee Dee, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. At his sentencing hearing, Godejohn explained his motivation for the murder: “I was blindly in love. That was always very much the case.”
According to a family friend quoted in InTouch, Godejohn tried to keep up communication with Gypsy while they were both behind bars, but she rebuffed him. "He did send her a letter and she just threw it away," the friend said. "I don’t think they’re supposed to communicate, but she just has no interest in that part of her life."
In 2019, Godejohn gave an interview from prison for the Oxygen special Gypsy Rose & Nick: A Love to Kill For (via People), in which he spoke fondly of Gypsy Rose and described her as his soulmate, and looked back on their time together as "the best days of his life." He also reiterated his motivation for the murder, explaining "I wanted to make sure her mom was not going to harm her anymore. I made sure of that."
In a separate interview with 20/20, Godejohn said that he felt “abandoned” by Gypsy Rose. “There is a part of me that will probably always love her, but she’s hurt me so badly. I guess you could say my feelings got the best of me. I ended up loving someone way too much.”
Did Gypsy Rose Blanchard know she could walk?
Gypsy Rose knew all along that she could walk and that the wheelchair was a ruse, but thanks to Dee Dee’s manipulation, she was confused about many other aspects of her health growing up. “Obviously I knew that I could walk and didn’t need a feeding tube, but everything else was a really big confusion for me,” she told People. “I would voice concerns, being like, ‘I really don’t feel like I need this,’ and she would get really, really upset with me and start manipulating me.”
A prime example was her supposed epilepsy diagnosis, which Gypsy Rose said never made sense to her, but “whenever I’d question it my mother would say I’d had a seizure the night before and didn’t remember. There was always an excuse.”
What is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's job?
Gypsy Rose isn't employed at the moment, but she's expressed interest in the beauty retail space. "I like to do people's hair. I like to do makeup. I'm a total girly girl," she said during a press conference for The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard in January. "So, you know, I might want to do something in retail kind of shop that I really like and enjoy. Also, I might get discounts which would be cool."
That said, she wasn't intending to job-hunt immediately upon leaving prison. "Right now, my life is way too hectic for a nine to five going forward," Gypsy said. "I think that, you know, I might get a little bored not having a day-to-day job. So, I might want to have one. Right now, I'm not wanting one. I'm not wanting to take that on."
Where does Gypsy Rose Blanchard live?
After her parole in December of 2023, Gypsy Rose moved back to Louisiana, the state where she was born, settling in the Lake Charles region where her then-husband was from.
"I'm finally free," she said in a TikTok video dated December 31. “It's nice to be home. I'm back home in Louisiana, enjoying a beautiful day outside.”
Following Gypsy Rose’s divorce from her husband, it’s not clear if she’ll be staying in Louisiana or moving elsewhere.
Related: Fans Go Wild Over Gypsy Rose Blanchard's 'First Selfie of Freedom'
Who is Gypsy Rose Blanchard's husband?
In August 2022, news broke that Gypsy Rose had married Ryan Scott Anderson while behind bars. Previously, she had been engaged to a different man, Ken Urker, who she had also met while in prison. In the Lifetime documentary series The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, she revealed that she was still in touch with Urker in the run-up to her wedding to Anderson.
Gypsy Rose also discussed what drew her to Anderson, who began writing letters to her as part of a bet with a friend, per Today. “The thing that stuck out the most about Ryan's letter is not only how genuine it came across, but also how how funny he is,” she said. After communicating back and forth through letters for over a year, Anderson came to visit Gypsy Rose in prison for the first time. “We had this connection that seemed so seamless, so easy,” she recalled. “This is something I never thought that I would have after everything that has happened.”
When Gypsy Rose came up for parole, she and Anderson began planning their future together. "I do believe I am the Prince Charming that Gypsy has been waiting for her whole life," he said in the documentary. "I really do believe that. When Gypsy gets out, I plan on supporting her and doing what a husband supposed to do to his wife.” After Gypsy Rose was released, Anderson took her home to Lake Charles, Louisiana, where he works as a special education teacher.
However, the marriage didn’t last long once Gypsy Rose had her freedom. In March of 2024, three months after her parole, the couple announced that they had split.
"People have been asking what is going on in my life. Unfortunately my husband and I are going through a separation and I moved in with my parents home down the bayou," Gypsy Rose said in a statement on her private Facebook account, obtained by People. "I have the support of my family and friends to help guide me through this. I am learning to listen to my heart. Right now I need time to let myself find… who I am."
In the days following the separation announcement, Gypsy Rose was seen getting lunch with her ex-fiancé , Ken Urker, sparking speculation that they were back together.
Gypsy Rose filed for divorce a month after the separation, and subsequently filed for a temporary restraining order against Anderson.
She's since confirmed that she and Unker are back together, after TMZ spotted the couple at the NOLA Jazz Fest in April. "After reconnecting earlier this month, we realized that our love for each other is simply undeniable, and life is too short to not take a chance," Blanchard told the outlet.
"We have a history that made for the perfect foundation for a new beginning. We are together and in a wonderful place in our relationship. We know it is going to be a long road ahead but are excited for the future."
