Gypsy Rose Blanchard opens up about her addiction to painkillers and the factor it played in her decision to kill her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.
In an interview with ABC News’ Deborah Roberts that aired on Good morning America On Friday, Gypsy revealed that she is now sober, but she wasn’t when she and then-boyfriend Nicholas “Nick” Godejohn planned Dee Dee’s murder.
“This is really hard to talk about because it took me down a really dark path,” said the 32-year-old parolee 20/20 host when asked about her addiction to painkillers. “But I felt like it was my only way to cope for a while.”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard, to be released from prison, regrets killing her mother: ‘She didn’t deserve it’ (Exclusive)
Gypsy noted that even though she was high when she decided to kill her mother — who convinced the people in her life that her daughter was terminally ill and is believed to have subjected Gypsy to painful and unnecessary medical treatments — she still takes responsibility for her actions.
“I don’t blame the drugs, I don’t blame anything. I don’t make excuses,” Gypsy said. She said GMA also: “I don’t believe my mother is a monster. She had a lot of demons. I didn’t want her dead, I just wanted out of my situation and I thought that was the only way out.”
Gypsy was released from prison on December 28, eight years after pleading guilty to her mother’s murder. During her stay in prison, she managed to get rid of her addiction. “I’m sober now,” Gypsy told Roberts. “I haven’t used in four years and I don’t feel the need.”
Since her release from prison, Gypsy has shared glimpses of her life outside bars on social media, including her romance with husband Ryan Scott Anderson, a special education teacher from Louisiana, whom she met and married in 2022 while serving time.
“I had to kiss a few frogs to get to this one,” she said to herself GMA interview, while sitting with Anderson. “We’ve talked about starting a family, we just don’t know when at this point. Our lives are pretty busy right now.”
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Her story captured the public’s attention, spawning both award-winning scripted miniseries in 2019. Rankand a documentary from 2017. Mom dead and dearest. The new docu-series premieres tonight on Lifetime, Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard features Gypsy telling the story of her life and the abuse she faced, leading to her mother’s murder and her subsequent prison sentence.
Asked about the attention her story has garnered, she told Roberts she has mixed feelings about it. “Of course I feel conflicted. Fame is not what I’m after,” she said. “I’ve always said, I think I’m infamous and then I became famous.”
– Honestly, I am a very shy person – she added. “[But] I don’t think I’m doing anything that no one else is doing. I am myself.”
She noted that she is sharing her story “to be a cautionary tale so that the next person who might find themselves in a situation like mine doesn’t go down the path that I went down.”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Dee Dee Blanchard.
Courtesy of the Blanchard family
Gypsy Rose Blanchard Opens Up About Struggling to Understand Mom’s Munchausen by Mediator: ‘It’s Not Knowingly Malicious’ (Exclusive)
Dee Dee Blanchard was murdered in 2015 by Gypsy and Godejohn in her home in Springfield, Mo.
Gypsy pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was granted parole this year. Godejohn was convicted of first-degree murder in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison without parole, according to court records.
In her GMA interview, Gypsy spoke about her feelings about her freedom and Godejohn’s life sentence. “I’m sure we’re both very sorry,” she said. “All I can really say is I’ve done my time, he’s doing his time on his end and I wish him the best on his journey.”
Looking at a picture of herself as a child, Gypsy noticed how far she had come from that time. I don’t hang out with that girl anymore, she said. “Not me [recognize her]. I know it’s me, but at the same time it’s not me anymore.”
Discussing her release and life now, Gypsy said: “You don’t realize how confined you are in prison. I feel like I’ve been in a black and white world and I’ve just stepped into technicolor. It’s been amazing.”
If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the crisis line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose BlanchardThe six-hour special, which offers unprecedented access to Munchausen’s most popular victim by proxy, will premiere on January 5th on Lifetime at 8:00 PM ET/PT.
More of Roberts’ interview with Gypsy Rose Blanchard will air Friday 20/20 on ABC (9:00 p.m. ET) on ABC.
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Source: HIS Education