Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s husband wasn’t the only man sending her love letters while she was in prison.
The 32-year-old and her husband, Ryan Anderson, recently sat down with Entertainment Tonight to promote Blanchard’s upcoming Lifetime docuseries, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, premiering on 5 January.
While speaking with ET, Blanchard and Anderson opened up about their romance and their plans for the future. The couple were married in July 2022 during a small ceremony at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri, where Blanchard was released on 28 December after serving eight years of her sentence. Blanchard pleaded guilty in 2016 to the second-degree murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, after an investigation found that she was forced by her mother to pretend she was suffering from several serious illnesses.
She met the special education teacher in 2020 after he sent her letters in prison, but it appears that Anderson wasn’t the only one. When asked how many men wrote to her during that time, Blanchard responded: “A lot, over 250 from all countries.”
As for what made Anderson stand out among the men wanting to date her, Blanchard revealed that their similar backgrounds inspired her to send him a letter back. “Well, Ryan’s from Louisiana and I’m originally from Louisiana. So, I saw that and I’m kinda like, ‘Hey, someone from my home state we probably have a lot in common,’” she recalled. “We became friends and, of course, more than friends and then now we’re married.”
While the couple have been married for more than one year, Anderson explained that they refer to themselves as “newly-together-wed” since they’re finally able to spend everyday life together. “It’s nice, it’s what I’ve been waiting for,” the teacher said, adding: “We’re still learning [about] each other but it’s been great.”
Blanchard shared that, since her release from prison, the couple cooked their first dinner together and she’s already told her husband “to put the toilet seat down several times.” Despite their families encouraging them to wait until Blanchard was released from prison to tie the knot, the couple maintained that they have no regrets about their decision to get married.
“I think that, spending eight and a half years in prison, all I was was all alone. And I was tired of sleeping in a bed by myself. I was tired of feeling like I had no one to share memories with,” Blanchard said. “I always knew that I wanted to share it with someone, I just didn’t know who. And, now I know who.”
Although Blanchard and Anderson are currently focused on building their relationship, the couple are still thinking about growing their family one day. “We’re just trying to start off the marriage on a good foot before we bring kids into this situation right now,” Blanchard said, to which Anderson added: “But never say never.”
In 2015, Blanchard’s boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, stabbed her mother at least 17 times at her home in Springfield, Missouri, as Blanchard hid in a bathroom during the assault. Blanchard and Godejohn then stole money from Dee Dee and travelled to Wisconsin by bus. Authorities were alerted to a post on Dee Dee’s Facebook page - which read, “That B*** is dead!” - and found her body on 14 June 2015. Blanchard and Godejohn were later arrested and charged with murder.
Prosecutors said Blanchard’s mother had Munchausen syndrome by proxy - a psychological disorder where parents fabricate their child’s illness, according to the National Institutes of Health - and subjected her daughter to unnecessary medical treatments over two decades. Blanchard testified in court that Dee Dee had falsely claimed she suffered from conditions such as leukemia and muscular dystrophy. In a 2017 interview with Dr Phil, she claimed that her mother also shaved her head and forced her to eat through a feeding tube.
Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016, while Godejohn was eventually found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for murder and 25 years for armed criminal action.
