Gypsey Rose Blanchard and Ryan Anderson.Photo:Gypsy Rose Blanchard/Instagram
Gypsy Rose Blanchard/Instagram
ForGypsy Rose BlanchardandRyan Anderson, it was true love and wedded bliss — at least for a while.
On Thursday night, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, 32, announced that she and husband Ryan Anderson, 37, the special education teacher from Louisiana she met — and married in prison — were separating,PEOPLE exclusively reported.
Gypsy Rose Blandard and her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.Courtesy Blanchard Family
Courtesy Blanchard Family
How Did Blanchard and Anderson Meet?
Their relationship began in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic when Anderson wrote to her in prison. A co-worker at the hospital where he worked at the time wanted to write a letter toJoseph “Joe Exotic” Maldonado-Passage, the focus of the hit Netflix show,Tiger King.
“Tiger Kingwas really popular at the time," Anderson told PEOPLE about the hit Netflix show about Maldonado, a wildlife businessman and convicted felon. “I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, if you write him, I’ll write Gypsy Rose Blanchard."
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ryan Anderson in New York City in Jan. 2024.BACKGRID
BACKGRID
He had learned about his future wife’s alleged plight when he saw the 2017 HBO documentary,Mommy Dead and Dearest.
“I never thought she’d be my wife,” he said.
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He said he poured his heart out in the letter. “I remember telling her what her story meant to me, and on the second page I just let her have it,” Anderson told PEOPLE in an exclusive interview on the eve of the Jan. 5 release of Lifetime’s docuseries,The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
“I told her everything about me.” As for why she chose to respond: “She told me the main reason was probably because I was from Louisiana [Gypsy’s original home state],” he said while laughing. “So I credit that as being the most important thing.”
In what came as a surprise to him, she wrote back. “I had butterflies when we emailed, but what sent it over the top was the first time I heard her voice,” he said.
By May 2020, the two were regularly exchanging emails. They met in person in June 2021. About a year later, they wed in a small prison ceremony on July 21, 2022.
Blanchard Praises Her Husband for Supporting Her
When Blanchard spoke to PEOPLE in December, she praised her husband for always being there for her.
“Ryan has seen me through,” Blanchard said. “He’s so patient with me. I can be an emotional handful. He knows how to calm me down.”
Blanchard Shares Her Feelings on Living with Anderson After Her Release
Just before she was released from prison on Dec. 28, 2023, she admitted she was nervous about the new life that awaited her outside the prison gates.
“I’ve never lived with a man,” Blanchard told PEOPLE. “I grew up with a mom, so I didn’t even grow up with a dad in the house. So I’m like, ‘I don’t even know what it’s like to live with a man.’”
Blanchard’s “Inner Conflict” About Marriage
Anderson told PEOPLE that Gypsy had “inner conflict” at first about getting married.
“Everybody would tell her, you need to do this, you need to do that,” he said. “Oh, don’t get married because you’re going to go around and play the field and go out and experience life. And so that weighed heavy on her, but at the same time, she knew she wanted a family. She knew she wanted a husband and [to] eventually have kids."
The Couple’s Plans to Have a Second Wedding Outside of Prison
However, Blanchard was hopeful, saying she wanted to have a second wedding after her prison release.
“We do plan on having a reception/redo wedding with all of our family and our friends and the dress and the cake and everything because we deserve that,” she said. “I deserve that. He deserves that.”
“Our prison wedding was just something to where we can make our vows to each other,” she added. “It was something that meant something to us. And I think the party is kind of for everybody else and us, but mostly for everybody else.”
New Year’s Eve Selfie
In a former Instagram post, she shared a romantic photo of herself and Anderson in their living room. They had their arms around each other and behind them, a cutout with the words “just married” could be seen along with a sign with both of their names lit up.
In late December, she also encouraged her 4.4 Instagram million followers to “watch how our love story began” in the Lifetime docuseries that aired in January. (Blanchard has since deleted her Instagram.)
“The D Is Fire”
The comment came when Blanchard was fighting back about on one of Anderson’sInstagramposts that received negative feedback. “Don’t listen to the haters," she wrote. “Besides, they jealous because you are rocking my world every night. Yeah I said it, the D is fire.”
source: people.com
