Gypsy Rose Blanchard has spoken out for the first time since her release from prison for the murder of her abusive mother.
Blanchard, now 32, was paroled last week – eight and a half years after she persuaded her then-boyfriend to kill her mother Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard in a desperate bid to be free of her.
For years, her mother had forced her to pretend that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses.
Following her release from prison, Blanchard shared two videos on her Instagram about her New Year’s Eve plans and her upcoming projects.
“Hey everyone, this is Gypsy,” she said in a video posted on New Year’s Eve. “I’m finally free!”
She added that she was celebrating the day with her dad, stepmom and her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, 37, whom she reportedly married in 2022 while in prison.
“We’re looking to ring in the New Year together, and it’s gonna be really awesome to have some family time after so long,” she said in a separate video.
The 32-year-old also promoted her new documentary series premiering on 5 January and her e-book: Released: Confessions on the Eve of Freedom.
“It’s not a rehashing of everything that happened. It’s more of my reflection of everything that I have learned and experienced in the last eight and a half years,” she said of the book.
Blanchard was convicted of second-degree murder in 2016 for her role in her mother’s stabbing death.
Prosecutors said Clauddine 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 her mother had falsely claimed that she suffered from conditions like leukemia and muscular dystrophy. She said in an interview with Dr Phil in 2017 that her mother also shaved her head and forced her to eat through a feeding tube.
In 2015, Blanchard and her boyfriend at the time, Nicholas Godejohn, plotted to kill Claudine, prosecutors said, leading Godejohn to stab her at least 17 times at her home in Springfield, Missouri. Blanchard hid in a bathroom during the assault.
Following the assault, Godejohn and Blanchard then reportedly stole money from Claudine, before travelling to Wisconsin by bus.
Authorities were alerted to a post on Claudine’s Facebook page which read: “That B*** is dead!”
Officers responded to her home and her body was found on 14 June 2015.
While Blanchard’s community was initially concerned about the daughter’s disappearance, Blanchard and Godejohn were later arrested and charged with murder.
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.
In a recent interview with People published on the day of her release, Blanchard opened up about what’s next in her future. She told the outlet that she’s remaining focused on her loved ones, including her new husband – a special education teacher she met in 2020 after he sent her letters while in prison.
In July 2022, the couple tied the knot during a small ceremony at the Missouri correctional facility.
“My husband Ryan has been an emotional backbone for the last three years,” she said. “We met when the pandemic was really, really strong and I had a lot of emotional ups and downs because of Covid.”
She also told TMZ that she wants to meet pop star Taylor Swift.
