(L) Ken Urker, Gypsy Rose Blanchard; (R) Ryan Anderson.Photo:Mega / SplashNews; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Mega / SplashNews; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Gypsy Rose Blanchardlocked herself in her bathroom in Lake Charles, La. She was frightened, trying to pull herself together as her husband,Ryan Anderson, 36, banged on the door late at night.
“Let me in! Let me in!” he allegedly screamed, Blanchard’s close friend tells PEOPLE, relaying Blanchard’s account of the situation.
Blanchard, 32, was scared the tension could escalate. As Anderson allegedly pounded harder, Blanchard quickly called a relative to pick her up. She knew this was the end of her two-year marriage.
“He got in her face and screamed,” says her close friend and tattoo artist Nadiya Vizier, 22, who is shedding light on what she says led to Blanchard’s sudden separation from Anderson in late March, just three months after her prison release.
“Gypsy said that she was afraid he was going to hit her. He didn’t — but that happened in the past with her mother. So, her first instinct was to tighten up and be prepared. But she got to safety and called her lawyer, too. Ryan is a big guy, and she told me it was really scary.”
At dawn, Blanchard took her belongings and spent hours on a drive back to the home of her fatherRodand stepmotherKristy’sin Cut Off, La., to begin her new life again.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ryan Scott Anderson seen in New York on January 5, 2024.Raymond Hall/GC Images
Raymond Hall/GC Images
Two years ago, Blanchard and Anderson married in a jailhouse ceremony in June 2022, while Blanchard was serving almost eight years in prison for plotting to murder her mother,Dee Dee Blanchard, in June 2015, with her then-boyfriendNicholas “Nick” Godejohn, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
“Gypsy and I have always been very open and honest with each other,” Anderson told PEOPLE in January. “Even honesty to a fault. Gypsy wants to be so honest that she’ll say things that hurt my feelings and vice versa. But that’s one of the things I think that makes us stronger is that we are willing to lay it all out on the table. But also, one thing I love about us is after an argument, it’s done. We hold no resentment.”
Dee Dee subjected her daughter to numerous unnecessary medical treatments and procedures throughout her childhood and adolescence based on false diagnoses. One of those was muscular dystrophy, which Dee Dee said required Blanchard to use a wheelchair, even though she was able to walk without any issues. Next came painful and unnecessary feeding tubes, a bogus epilepsy diagnosis and a falsehood that her daughter had leukemia, for which Dee Dee shaved her head often.
‘She was on a leash’
Vizier says that Blanchard told her that throughout their relationship, Anderson had allegedly become more controlling and insecure over his wife.
“It was like she was on a leash,” Vizier says. “What’s the difference between being locked in a prison cell and feeling locked in her own home and marriage? She didn’t want to put up with it anymore.”
In February, when Lifetime took a break from filming their forthcoming seriesGypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up, the couple visited Blanchard’s family, which became a source of contention before their blow-out fight afterward when Blanchard wanted to spend private time alone with her father.
Nadiya Vizier (left) and Gypsy Rose (right) on January 12.Nadiya Vizier
Nadiya Vizier
“But I’m glad Gypsy got out of this situation. She’s such a good person. I’m glad she called somebody and got help that night,” says Vizier, later adding: “There are so many rumors about her out there. I had to finally speak up. I want people to know she didn’t leave Ryan for Ken. She left him because she wasn’t happy anymore.”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and Ryan Anderson attend red carpet event on January 5, 2024.Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
In January, Vizier, who will be featured on the upcoming Lifetime show, met the famous couple for the first time at the shop, even though she has known Blanchard’s father and stepmom since childhood since they have been close family friends for over a decade. Vizier says Blanchard and Anderson had been happy together — but something seemed off. “Ryan was kissing Gypsy a lot just to have it filmed. He’d say, ‘Watch you all, come film us!’ He was being very, very loud and just doing things in a way that just seemed like he was trying to show the world he was a good partner — like he wasn’t using her or something. I guess it felt played up for the camera.”
Shortly after her release, Blanchard said glowing things about Anderson. But in an interview with PEOPLE, she said she and Anderson had some personality differences. “I think the only fear that I have is honestly just making sure that we have good conflict resolve, which I feel I’m a very in-the-moment type of person, so I want to make sure if we argue, I want to clear it up right away,” Blanchard said. “Ryan is more of the opposite, where he has to sit on things and think about it, then come back a couple hours later and resolve it. I think that that’s one of my main concerns.”
Gypsy Rose Blanchard getting a tattoo on April 1, 2024.Nadiya Vizier
Ryan Anderson, Gypsy Rose Blanchard, Ken Urker.Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Mega / SplashNews
Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty; Mega / SplashNews
‘Strong Bond’ with Urker
Two months later, Blanchard and her ex-fiancéKen Urkerstarted spending time together again. After he watched HBO’s 2017 filmMommy Dead and Dearest, he wrote a letter to Blanchard in prison in 2018. They eventually became engaged but split up later. Last week, he visited from Texas, and on April 1, the two gotmatching husky dog tattoosthat Vizier designed and completed in three minutes.
Gypsy Rose (right) and Ken Urker (right) completed tattoos on April 1, 2024.Nadiya Vizier
When the pair places their arms together, the dogs face each other. “For them, it was even more than their strong bond. It was very personal,” Vizier says. “It was something that brought them together. Ken has a husky, and Gypsy loves them and wants one. They were very excited, happy and a little nervous getting it.”
Leading up to Urker’s visit, Blanchard sought friendship away from her estranged husband, who now has their dog Pixie. She desperately wanted a fresh start. In January, her parents held a crawfish boil party with a bonfire on the patio at their home, where Vizier sang “Hotel California” while Rod played guitar. She even taught Blanchard a few notes. In March, when she moved back home permanently, Vizier and Blanchard bonded over family trauma. Vizier had a difficult upbringing filled with abuse, too, and she believes her father was murdered in 2021 in Mexico.
“Gypsy didn’t have any friends and never really experienced real friendship. I felt terrible,” says Vizier. “I feel like a lot of people see her as some celebrity, but I just see her as a girl who had a rough, crazy past like me. She’s honest, truthful, sweet and very kind. She’s trying to start over again. I feel like all her life, friends have turned their back on her because of her story. I don’t know what I would have done in her situation. She was chained to a bed and repeatedly abused. I want to help her have a better life here. She means a lot to me. I want the best for her.”
Sophia Vizier (left) Gypsy Rose and Nadiya Vizier (right) on March 27, 2024.Nadiya Vizier
But before surgery, Blanchard’s spent the past week spending time with Urker. The pair dined, shopped at convenience stores, laughed, held hands and playfully embraced each other with their matching bracelets. They even drove to New Orleans and posed in front of the St. Louis Cathedral.
“Gypsy said she was doing good,” says Vizier. “She had a really good time. They went on a tour and had so much fun. But I think at the end of the day, she wants people to respect her privacy and give her a break. She still gets so much hate and negativity online. She has not experienced what a lot of us have with social media or even dating. She’s learning. She has a lot of new experiences in her next chapter.”
Gypsey Rose Blanchard and ex-fancé Ken Urker in Lousiana in April 2024.Mega/SplashNews
Mega/SplashNews
Urker playfully said, “We have not had any intimacy. We’re just hanging out.”
Pitre tells PEOPLE, “Gypsy realizes that Ryan isn’t great, and she gets out of it. She’s obviously in love with the first guy, Ken. You know? That’s who she’s been hanging out with. She obviously loves him.”
But regardless of what the future holds with Blanchard’s love life, Vizier believes her friend is on the right path. “I think she’s looking for her happily ever after. I don’t know if she realizes it’s hard to find Prince Charming, but she deserves it. Ken makes her feel happy right now, even as friends,” she says proudly. “That’s what we all want for her — to enjoy her life.”
source: people.com
