(NewsNation) — Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been a free woman for one full week as of Thursday after serving most of a 10-year prison term in Missouri for conspiring to kill her abusive mother, Dee Dee Blanchard.
Now, at age 32, Gypsy Rose is learning how to live her own life for the very first time.
Gypsy’s stepmom Kristy Blanchard says Gypsy is “at peace” and adjusting well at home with her husband, getting used to things like learning how to use her new phone.
“I had to store a couple of numbers for her, but she is learning it real quick,” Kristy Blanchard said Thursday on “Banfield.” “I really thought she’d have (the phone) attached by her hip by now, but she makes a post, she puts it down, and she just goes back and does what she wants to do.”
Gypsy pleaded guilty in 2016 to the second-degree murder of her mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard. Gypsy’s then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, is serving life in prison for stabbing Dee Dee to death in 2015.
Some experts think Gypsy, who attorneys say was isolated and abused by Dee Dee for years, may have been a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
Gypsy was forced to use a wheelchair and undergo unnecessary medical procedures, her attorneys said. After Dee Dee’s murder, Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison and was released early.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard said years of physical and psychological abuse are what drove her to the 2015 crime. Since her release, new allegations have surfaced that Gypsy was abused by her grandfather, in part by taking baths with her. Her grandfather denied the claims and said Gypsy is the one who touched him since she was 4.
“I think it’s really messed up,” Kristy Blanchard said. “It’s gross. Yes, he denies it, she swears it’s the truth … I believe her. … She shouldn’t be taking a bath with her grandfather anyway.”
Gypsy’s case made national headlines, sparked documentaries and was the center of a limited series drama on Hulu.
Kristy said that after Gypsy got of out prison, she told her she didn’t realize how big her story was. With her newfound fame, Gypsy wants to advocate for others who need help.
“She has a voice. Everyone is all about Gypsy right now. Use it, take advantage of it. Why not?” Kristy Blanchard said. “She definitely wants to use this to be an advocate, to help kids that have been in this situation.”
Gypsy is adjusting to normal life again alongside her husband Ryan, whom she married while she was still in prison. Kristy admitted she was “nervous for her” at first but said the couple’s honeymoon was “beautiful.”
“She said it was everything she expected it to be,” Kristy said. “They did stay at a hotel … the morning that she got released, and she said it was wonderful.”