In a fascinating twist of fate, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s journey to meeting her now-husband, Ryan Scott Anderson, unfolded against the backdrop of a notorious crime and the complexities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Born in 1991, Gypsy Rose faced a tumultuous upbringing, with her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, falsely claiming she suffered from various health issues, leading to her confinement to a wheelchair and constant medical attention.
In 2015, the shocking revelation surfaced that Gypsy Rose was not as ill as her mother had portrayed, and she orchestrated her mother’s murder with the help of her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, aiming to escape the abuse and manipulation she endured.
Gypsy Rose’s case gained widespread media coverage, bringing attention to the rare form of abuse known as Munchausen Syndrome by proxy. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and served a 10-year prison sentence, ultimately released on December 28, 2023.
Meanwhile, Godejohn received a life sentence without parole for his involvement in Dee Dee’s murder.
While serving her sentence, Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s life took an unexpected turn when Ryan Scott Anderson decided to write her a letter in 2020, inspired by a co-worker.
The connection between the two started amid the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Anderson’s co-worker, having watched “Tiger King,” expressed her desire to write to Joe Exotic, prompting Anderson to make a unique proposition: “I’ll write Gypsy Rose Blanchard.” This decision, spurred by the unusual circumstances of the pandemic, set the stage for an unforeseen connection.
Anderson, recalling the sequence of events, mentioned, “And I had watched her documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, like three years before that. And then The Act had come out, and I’ve never watched The Act, but I remember my friends talking about The Act, and I was like, I’ll watch the documentary again. So it was kind of fresh on my mind.”
Despite initially not expecting to receive a response, Anderson found himself in regular correspondence with Gypsy Rose by May 2020. A year into their communication, they met for the first time, navigating the challenges imposed by the pandemic on prison visits.
Gypsy Rose remarked, “We met in 2020 when the pandemic was really, really strong, and I had a lot of emotional ups and downs because of COVID. Unfortunately, it put the prison in a position to where it restricted our freedom even more… So Ryan has seen me through some really good times, some really hard times.”
This unexpected connection between Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ryan Scott Anderson serves as a testament to the unpredictable nature of life, intertwining true crime, a global pandemic, and the pursuit of connection against all odds.
