Gypsy Rose Blanchard to be released from prison, regrets mother’s murder and hopes to meet Taylor Swift

After serving eight years behind bars for the murder of her mother, Gypsy Rose Blanchard is set to be released from prison within hours, hoping to meet Taylor Swift upon her release.

The release, which TMZ has described as a highly secretive affair with beefed up security, comes as Blanchard admits regret over murdering her mother, Dee Dee.

Blanchard became one of the most famous cases of Munchausen syndrome by proxy (now known as factitious disorder imposed on another), a rare mental disorder in which a caregiver induces or exaggerates an illness in another person (typically a child), following her mother’s death in 2015.

The murder, which Blanchard had planned, was carried out by her then-boyfriend, Nick Godejohn, while she hid in the bathroom.

Blanchard was sentenced in 2016, at 23-years-old. Godejohn was later sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2019.

Dee Dee had fabricated lies about her daughter’s physical health to family, friends, and professionals, convincing her daughter and those around her that she needed a wheelchair and an oxygen mask to live.

The medical abuse began from an early age, with Dee Dee claiming her child suffered from leukaemia, epilepsy, asthma, and muscular dystrophy, homeschooling her daughter to isolate her from society and receiving charity and disability payments.

Blanchard is now married to Louisiana-based teacher Ryan Anderson, whom she met through a prison pen pal system.

According to TMZ, Anderson plans to take Blanchard to a Kansas City Chiefs football game on December 31 in the hopes of meeting pop star Taylor Swift, who is dating the team’s tight end Travis Kelce.

Blanchard told the outlet the singer’s 2012 single Eyes Open helped her deal with the trauma of her mother’s abuse, describing Swift as a “kick-ass chick”.

Blanchard admitted her Swift album purchases are mainly funded by commissary money sent by her father, Rod.

In a separate interview with People Magazine ahead of her release, Blanchard spoke candidly about her mother’s murder, and her regrets.

“Nobody will ever hear me say I’m glad she’s dead, or I’m proud of what I did. I regret it every single day,” Blanchard said.

She described her relationship with her mother as “very similar to a domestic violence type of relationship”, with verbal and physical abuse becoming more common as Blanchard grew into her teens and began to rebel.

“As long as you’re complacent, everything’s fine. Put your foot down, then it’s bad,” she said.

Blanchard told the outlet she wanted “to make sure that people in abusive relationships do not resort to murder”.

“It may seem like every avenue is closed off but there is always another way. Do anything, but don’t take this course of action,” she said.

In 2019, Blanchard’s upbringing and the murder of Dee Dee were the subject of a true crime drama series, The Act.