Gypsy Rose Blanchard has not had an easy life. She spent her childhood under the boot of her controlling mother, served eight years in prison, and now — at only 32 — she’s properly starting her life for the first time.
An inarguably contentious figure, Gypsy Rose is also the poster child for factitious disorder imposed on another, formerly known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy. From her earliest days, Dee Dee Blanchard — Gypsy Rose’s mother — faked a variety of illnesses in her daughter, using the garnered sympathy to gain money, charitable handouts, and broad support from their community.
She also used threats and outright abuse to maintain careful control of her daughter, who — while aware that some of her ailments were exaggerated — was in the dark about her mother’s manipulations for years. Their tumultuous story eventually ended in the murder of Dee Dee, the swift capture of Gypsy Rose and her accomplice, Nicholas Godejohn, and a 10-year prison sentence for the then-24-year-old.
Gypsy Rose served eight of those 10 years, and was released from prison in December of 2023. By the time she was released, the now-32-year-old was married and prepped to start a new life with her husband. Rumors of a separation throws a wrench into those plans, however, as Gypsy Rose faces the next hurdle in her fraught life.
Is Gypsy Rose’s short-lived marriage ending?
Gypsy Rose was incarcerated between the ages of 24 and 32, but, even from behind bars, she managed to find love. She first connected with a man named Ken, who she met via the prison’s pen pal program, and the pair eventually got engaged, but they broke up before they could tie the knot. Several years later, Gypsy Rose made another connection — this time with Louisiana teacher Ryan Anderson — and the pair were wed in a private ceremony at the prison.
Gypsy Rose and Anderson have been married since July of 2022, but it seems their pairing was fated to be short-lived. A few weeks after the 32-year-old Gypsy Rose hinted that she and Anderson were on the rocks, she confirmed that the pair were separated, and heading toward divorce, in a post to her private Facebook.
Gypsy Rose revealed that she’s already “moved in with [her] parents” back home, and is leaning on “the support of my family and friends” as she deals with the divorce. She polished off her post with an admission that “right now I need time to let myself find who I am,” a statement that is inarguably true. After growing up in a controlling, abusive household and then shifting directly to prison, Gypsy Rose hasn’t had any experience on her own. She’ll need that, if she ever hopes to properly transition to life as an adult.