EXCLUSIVE: How Gypsy Rose Blanchard's short marriage prepared her for relationship now
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is navigating life out of prison — and doing so in front of the camera.
In an interview with TODAY.com ahead of the second season of her Lifetime show "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup," Blanchard explains how one romantic relationship helped prepare her for another.
Blanchard married Louisiana teacher Ryan Scott Anderson in 2022 while she was in prison. They were together through 2024, when she rekindled a relationship with Ken Urker, to whom she was previously engaged. She and Urker now have a daughter.
'My marriage with Ryan taught me a lot about myself and showed me that I had a lot to learn about relationships and marriage,' she said. 'There was something that Ryan had said in Season 1: 'Life is not a fairy tale, and it will have its challenges.'"
EXCLUSIVE: Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ken Urker were engaged then broke up. Why she says it's working now
Blanchard said Anderson's words resonated and she applies them to her current relationship with Urker.
'I didn't understand that at the time, but after everything I went through, I apply that to my relationship with Ken. We will have bad days, but you can't judge the whole relationship on one argument. You have to push through," she continues.
Blanchard served seven years for her role in the murder of her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard. Blanchard is thought to be a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychological disorder in which a caretaker claims someone needs care or medical treatment who doesn't, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
Blanchard was released from prison in December 2023 at the age of 32. Nicholas Godejohn, who carried out the murder, is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole after first pleading not guilty.
Anderson picked her up from prison, he recalled in a TODAY.com interview in 2023 and he appeared in the first season of "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lockup."
By mid-2024, they were in the midst of a divorce and Blanchard was back with Urker.
Anderson told TODAY.com last June that he was "blindsided" by how quickly their relationship ended.
'I'm just experiencing things as they come. I'm still in reflection and processing mode,' he said. 'A lot has happened. It's hard to wrap my head around a lot of things that have happened because I mean, when I say I'm blindsided, I really am blindsided about how fast things progressed.'
The second season of "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up" premieres March 10 on Lifetime, and will follow Blanchard as she faces the challenges of divorce, public scrutiny and rebuilding relationships while preparing for the arrival of her first child.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
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