Ryan Anderson talks to ET about his recent split with Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her new relationship with ex-fiancé Ken Urker.
Ryan Anderson is sharing his side of the story behind his recent split with Gypsy Rose Blanchard. Gypsy's whirlwind marriage to Ryan began while she was still in prison for the second-degree murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. While in prison, she began a correspondence with Ryan, and the pair were married in July 2022.
In early April, Gypsy filed for divorce from Ryan after less than two years of marriage. Shortly after, she asked a local court for a restraining order against him.
In an exclusive interview with ET’s Deidre Behar, Ryan discusses the couple's estrangement and Gypsy's rekindling of her relationship with her ex-fiancé and current boyfriend, Ken Urker.
"The love me and Gypsy have for each other never went away, you know? It's one of those we still care about each other, we still have love for each other, just things got in the way," Ryan tells ET. "Life happens, you know? She's trying to figure out who she is and a lot of stuff is happening."
Ryan says that although the estranged couple have remained in contact, they don't talk "like we used to."
"It's nothing like all night on the phone talking, but we still communicate," he adds.
Gypsy went to prison for her involvement in the killing of her mother, Dee Dee. Gypsy and her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, were convicted in 2016 for orchestrating the murder of Dee Dee, who had been manipulating her daughter's life, portraying her as terminally ill. Gypsy was sentenced to 10 years in prison. She was released in December 2023 after serving 85 percent of her sentence.
In the months following her release, Gypsy documented her life, which fans can see in the upcoming Lifetime docuseries, Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up. The eight-part series is a no-holds-barred look at her life, including her marriage and divorce from Ryan.
While Gypsy previously told ET that inviting cameras back into her life was her way of showing viewers with preconceived notions "who I am," Ryan was more cautious of their presence in their lives.
"She wanted to do it, so it was one of those [situations] where, me being her husband, I had to go with it," he tells ET. But "in hindsight," Ryan says he would probably have wanted to begin their lives as husband and wife without the cameras.
"It put a strain on us," he admits.
Although Ryan says he can't "pinpoint anything specific" about what led to the couple's separation, he says that there's "no doubt" that filming "stressed us both out."
As such, Ryan has to laugh when told about the various theories that have been posed about his split from Gypsy on social media.
"That's ridiculous," Ryan said of the rumor that food hoarding led to their breakup. When told about the theory that he reminded Gypsy of her mother, Ryan balks at the very idea.
"I don't know how I would remind her of her mother... like, honestly, if anybody knows Gypsy they know that Gypsy does whatever she wants whenever she wants," he tells ET. "I was always there for Gypsy [and] I still want to be there for Gypsy. I'm a nurturer by nature."
Since filing for divorce, Gypsy has reconnected with her ex-fiancé, Ken Urker, whom she met through a prison pen pal program. The pair got engaged in 2019, but split before Gypsy met Ryan. After being released from prison, Gypsy and Ken reignited their close friendship, which strained her relationship with Ryan, as seen in Life After Lock Up.
Ryan admits that he pushed back against Gypsy maintaining a friendship with Ken, which is shown In the early episodes of the series.
"Now [that] the split has happened, you find out certain things. [But] at the time, I didn't believe it, you know, she wasn't talking to him but it is what it is," he says of whether he thought Gypsy was going behind his back with Ken while they were still married.
Ryan says that he's been "blindsided" by how fast the "process" of the breakup.
"I am blindsided by how fast it was like, 'I'm going to stay with my parents for the weekend,' and then it's, 'I'm never coming back.' It was just shocking how fast it went from this to that to now 'I'm with Ken and in love with him. He's my soulmate and you were just married to me a week ago,'" Ryan explains. "It's hard to process as her husband -- we're in the middle of divorce proceedings and everything so I can't say too much, but I am blindsided by how fast it transpired."
He adds: "I question other people's intentions or other people's motives. I just question things to this day."
When ET recently spoke with Gypsy, the reality star said she has no regrets about getting into a relationship with Ryan, but did regret how quickly they got married.
"I don't regret the relationship with Ryan, but I do regret getting married in prison so fast. Living with someone is so much different... now in hindsight, I understand where [people] were coming from," Gypsy reflected.
She revealed that the decision to end the marriage wasn't due to a single incident but rather a culmination of factors, despite media claims that trivial issues were to blame. "It wasn't anything like what the headlines were saying about a fridge and food... it was a bunch of things that all compiled together," she clarified.
In contrast to her rocky relationship with Ryan, Gypsy spoke warmly about rekindling her romance with Ken.
"Getting to that mindset, where I felt over the course of a couple of months, I felt more disconnected from Ryan emotionally... Ken and I have always remained friends even after our breakup in 2019," Gypsy shared.
Gypsy described her current relationship with Ken as a journey toward happiness. "I've always loved you, you've always loved me... so let's just be happy," Gypsy recounted about a pivotal meeting with Ken in late April.
Although Ken isn't living in Louisiana yet, Gypsy confirmed that he would be relocating "very soon," but they won’t be living together immediately due to her parole conditions. "I have to be paroled to my family... we're not gonna live together... we'll visit each other, we'll see each other, we'll hang out, we'll date and do this the right way," she said.
Responding to critics who questioned why she married Ryan if she felt Ken was her soulmate, Gypsy explained that their lives had taken different paths. "Back in 2019, he ended the relationship... and I was on [my own journey]. Ryan was my partner at the time. Ken and I were just on two separate paths at that time, and our paths just happen to now reconnect," she says.
As Gypsy embarks on this new chapter of her life, she remains optimistic about her future and her evolving relationships. "Everything's going really good with us," she affirms about her relationship with Ken, eager to share her journey with the world in her new series.
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