Gypsy Rose Blanchard says her late mother Dee Dee never wanted her to "find love or happiness" in Lifetime's new true-crime documentary. After wiping away tears, Blanchard gave a more hopeful update: "I'm engaged!" she announced.
In addition to recounting her emotional journey as a victim of Munchausen Syndrome, The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard also introduces Blanchard's fiancé Ryan Scott Anderson for the first time and tells the story of their relationship The road to prison weddings and life as a couple. .
Here's everything you need to know about Anderson and her relationship.
how it all started
The couple first connected in 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when Anderson, now a middle school special education teacher, was working at a hospital in Louisiana.
He decided to contact Blanchard after a coworker watched Netflix's "Tiger King" and told him she wanted to write a letter to Joe Exotic in prison. Blanchard is serving a 10-year sentence in Missouri for his role in Dee Dee's 2015 murder.
"I watched her documentaries like Mom Is Dead and Honey about three years ago," Anderson, 37, recently told People magazine . "I had never seen [Hulu's] The Act , but I remember my friends talking about The Act and I was like, I'm going to watch this documentary again. So it's kind of new to me ”
To his surprise, Blanchard responded, and they began exchanging emails. Not only did Blanchard hope to make friends in Louisiana, where she planned to live after she was released from prison, but she was also drawn to his personality and the sacrifices he made to help his mother raise her nephew.
However, due to COVID-19 restrictions, they did not meet in person until July 2021.
prison wedding
According to the Springfield News-Leader, after many visits and long-distance correspondence, they obtained a marriage license in Chillicothe, Missouri, in June 2022. About a month later, Anderson and Blanchard were married in a small prison ceremony on July 21, 2022. There are no guests, though, and since Blanchard was paroled from prison on Dec. 28, a bigger celebration is underway.
"We do plan on having a reception/redoing the wedding with all our family and friends, with dresses and cake and everything, because we deserve it. I deserve it. He deserves it," Blanchard De added in a People cover story.
"Our prison wedding was just a place where we could say our vows to each other. It meant a lot to us. I think this party was for other people and for all of us, but mostly for everyone else."
life in the public eye
Before Blanchard was released from prison, Anderson admitted he was "very nervous" about the attention he was about to receive, explaining that he considered himself a "very private person."
Blanchard was quick to defend her husband after trolls targeted Anderson's Instagram comments after her identity was revealed. “Ryan, don’t listen to the haters,” she wrote under a selfie from November 2023, following her release in January.
"I love you and you love me. We don't owe anyone anything. Our family is the most important thing. If you get likes and rave reviews, that's great, if you get hate, that's okay, Because they are not important."
