The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard
Episode One
Producers spent the last 18 months interviewing Gypsy during her time at the Chillicothe Correction Center. This episode starts off with an interview with Gypsy before her parole hearing. Gypsy mentions this is her one shot to get parole, so there is a lot riding on this hearing, where she mentions she will explain the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother.
We are first introduced to Kristy Blanchard, Gypsy’s step mother. Kristy immediately mentions Gypsy was in a prison like environment while in Dee Dee’s care. Rod was 17 and Dee Dee was 21 (Rod stated she was actually 23) when they started dating. About 3 months in, Dee Dee let Rod know she was pregnant and they got married. Three months after his 18th birthday, he filed for divorce from Dee Dee due to not actually being in love with her, and Dee Dee blamed Gypsy for their failed marriage. Rod and Kristy started dating when Gypsy was only 6 months old. Gypsy does have some medical issues, Kristy mentions Gypsy’s lazy eye from a young age, so there is some truth and much exaggeration in regards to Gypsy’s health.
For those who don’t know, Gypsy was arrested in 2015 for the involvement of the murder of her mother. The crime was committed as an escape from Dee Dee, who was the caretaker in this Munchausen by proxy case. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a psychiatric disorder where a parent will make up illnesses and go great lengths to convince medical professionals that their child is sick in order to harbor attention and sympathy. Dee Dee told everyone Gypsy had a seizure disorder, hearing impairments and shaved Gypsy’s head claiming she had cancer. She also forced Gypsy to use a wheel chair and told her not to walk, Dee Dee had an entire fraud scheme executed, where they received tons of gifts ranging from a new home built with a ramp for Gypsy’s wheelchair to a free trip to Disney per the Make a Wish foundation, among others.
Producer’s obtained never before shared medical records and shared them with Gypsy’s pediatrician who saw her back in 2005, Dr. Rob Steele. He mentions he never saw those documents and stated he thinks things would’ve been different. As mentioned, Gypsy had real issues with her right eye, a condition where surgery is needed or else the child will go blind. Dr. Steele stated there was a real issue Dee Dee sought after fixing for her child and realized how much attention she got as someone who has a child that might go blind.
Dee Dee’s older brother Evan’s Pitre, states Dee Dee was a nurses assistant who would look up diseases and say that maybe Gypsy has x, y, z.
Gypsy and her family share the same story about a very minor motorcycle accident Gypsy was in with her grandpa where the only injury was a scraped knee. Dee Dee turned that into having a full leg cast and eventually telling Gypsy to only use the wheelchair. The whole family states they knew it was fake and Gypsy states she was fully aware she was able to walk. Gypsy mentioned she wanted her mother’s attention and Dee Dee would emotionally abuse and actively withhold affection, while showing love to the cat instead.
Uncle Evans shares a story about a family party where there was a trampoline. Dee Dee ran to the store and left Gypsy at the party with her family. When Dee Dee left, Gypsy asked to go jump on the trampoline and her family said sure. As soon as Dee Dee pulled back into the party, Gypsy stopped jumping immediately. Dee Dee freaked out at everyone claiming she can’t jump, placed Gypsy in the wheelchair and wheeled her into the house for the rest of the day. Gypsy’s family told Rod that Gypsy could in fact walk and was not bound to a wheelchair.
Gypsy mentions she grew up on this fairytale idea that a knight would come and save her. Dee Dee and Gypsy lived with Dee Dee’s mom, and when grandma passed, they had to move and ended up in bad neighborhoods all over the place, moving as much as 3 to 4 times a year.
While Gypsy and Dee Dee were in New Orleans, they got into a car accident where Dee Dee’s leg was almost severed off. Gypsy was to stay with her grandparents while Dee Dee would recover during a long stay at the hospital. During this time, Gypsy says she was sexually abused by her grandpa. They actually interview the grandpa and he acts as if its the first he’s heard of it and then switches quickly to “She was trying to touch me…and I said don’t do that….” Uncle Evans seems to think this was a lie Gypsy was fed by Dee Dee, but Gypsy is saying there is no doubt in her mind it happened.
The episode ends with a family story about when the grandma of the family died, the grandpa remarried. Gypsy and Dee Dee were living with Grandpa and his new wife at the time. One day there was Roundup, which is weed killer, sitting in the counter and Gypsy had mentioned that was the “vitamins” DeeDee put in the new wife’s food, accusing Dee Dee of poisoning her. This obviously caused family friction and Dee Dee and Gypsy had to find a new place to live. The isolation from the family allowed Dee Dee to evolve this scheme even further.