The criminal case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard is notorious. Since her recent release from prison, we’re getting to know who Gypsy Rose’s father is.
Rod Blanchard lives in Louisiana and works as a ship captain for a marine transportation company called Edison Chouest Offshore. His second wife’s name is Kristy, and they have a son, Dylan, and a daughter, Mia. The U.S. Sun alleged that Dee Dee disputed Rod’s “presence and support” when Gypsy Rose was younger.
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Rod discussed his relationship with Dee Dee in an interview with BuzzFeed. Her father explained that he was only 17 years old when he met Dee Dee, while she was 24 years old. He said they dated for around six months, then he found out that Dee Dee was pregnant.
Rod admitted to BuzzFeed that he was never really in love with Dee Dee, but after she told him she was pregnant, Rod took responsibility and married her. Although, their marriage didn’t even last until Gypsy Rose’s birth. Gypsy Rose was born on July 27, 1991. By that time, Dee Dee and Rod had already divorced. Rod also told BuzzFeed when he realized he’d gotten married for the wrong reasons. Rod said, “I woke up on my birthday, on my 18th birthday, and I realized I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”
Prison Was a Stable Environment for Gypsy Rose
Gypsy Rose had a family reunion with her dad, stepmom, and half-siblings following her release from prison. However, she actually reconnected with Rod and Kristy during her jail sentence. Fox News interviewed Rod before Gypsy Rose was released. He said that he couldn’t wait for Gypsy Rose to get out of prison, and he wanted to build on the foundation of the relationship he’d started when Gypsy Rose was behind bars.
Rod revealed other strange details to Fox News, and it’s further proof of how dysfunctional Gypsy Rose’s life was with her mom. Rod said prison was like “a stable environment” for Gypsy Rose. During her incarceration, Gypsy Rose allegedly felt like she had some structure in her life.
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Rod also said, “I’m keeping tabs on all of her accomplishments in school,” and he claimed, “It’s wonderful.” According to Rod, Gypsy Rose wanted to do well with her education during her prison sentence. She wanted to come out of jail as a better person. Rod revealed that Gypsy Rose knew she shouldn’t have done what she did. Her dad was referring to the plot that Gypsy Rose and her ex-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, hatched to end Dee Dee’s life.
Gypsy Rose Was Convicted of Second-Degree Charges
In June 2015, Dee Dee passed away in her sleep after being physically harmed with a weapon. Gypsy Rose was arrested for her part in the plot, and she was convicted of second-degree charges in 2016.
Before Gypsy Rose’s release from prison, Rod explained to Fox News, “I haven’t really talked to her a lot about how she feels about her mom.” Rod said he didn’t want to “be pushy” with his oldest daughter and wanted Gypsy Rose to “feel comfortable to open up to me about all that.”
That was another thing that Rod was looking forward to when Gypsy Rose was free. He said, “I just think it’s better to wait for her to get out and for us to get together so we can talk about some of those things.”
Dee Dee Was Jealous of Nicholas and Gypsy Rose
During her trial, the public heard shocking details of why Gypsy Rose conspired to end her mother’s life. From the time that Gypsy Rose was a young child, Dee Dee claimed that Gypsy Rose suffered from several life-threatening illnesses, including leukemia. The real truth was Gypsy Rose was healthy.
ABC 20/20 interviewed Gypsy Rose in jail in 2018. She said, “There are certain illnesses that I knew I didn’t have.” Detectives who investigated Dee Dee’s passing confirmed that Gypsy Rose was the victim of Munchausen by Proxy Syndrome. That meant that Dee Dee was faking her daughter’s serious illnesses to get sympathy for herself. In court, it was proven that Dee Dee lied about Gypsy Rose’s actual age, too.
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Gypsy Rose told 20/20 that her mother would chain her to her bed and put bells on the doors. She also claimed that Dee Dee wanted to know if Gypsy Rose was doing anything behind her back, and that Dee Dee wouldn’t let her speak whenever they went to see a doctor.
When Gypsy Rose first encountered Nicholas in 2012, they started chatting on a Christian dating website. Gypsy Rose alleged to ABC that Dee Dee got jealous when she began chatting with Nicholas, and allegedly told Gypsy Rose to stay away from him. Gypsy Rose also claimed that she and Nicholas bonded over their love of Disney characters. She eventually admitted the real truth to her ex-boyfriend, and over time, they began to work out their plot to end Dee Dee’s life.
Gypsy Rose Celebrated Her Release with a Spa Day
As Rod explained to Fox News, he wants Gypsy Rose to feel comfortable in her new life outside of prison before they discuss her horrific upbringing. Her stepmom, Kristy, confessed to NewsNation that she was planning a far more relaxing event to celebrate Gypsy Rose’s release. Kristy said she was planning a spa day for Gypsy Rose. She said, “We’re going to get her pedicure, manicure, facial, haircut, colored if she wants.” Kristy said she’d be bringing Gypsy Rose shopping, too.
She also told NewsNation that they got a Christmas tree. Kristy said she’d gone overboard on the number of Christmas gifts she bought for Gypsy Rose. Since Gypsy Rose got released from jail eight years into a 10-year sentence, she enjoyed the holidays and a spa day even earlier than expected.
