On the latest episode of 20/20, Deborah Roberts speaks with the 32-year-old one week after her release from prison
Gypsy Rose Blanchard‘s next move is the subject of an upcoming 20/20 episode, premiering Friday, Jan. 26. Anchor Deborah Roberts spoke with the 32-year-old one week after her release from prison, by which point she had already morphed into a viral star. Despite having been mostly out of the public eye while serving seven years of a 10-year prison sentence for orchestrating the murder of her allegedly abusive mother, Blanchard doesn’t mind the spotlight.
“Honestly, I’m a very shy person,” Blanchard says in an exclusive clip from the upcoming episode, when asked if she’s been enjoying the uptick in attention. “I don’t think that I’m doing anything that anybody else wouldn’t do.”
Rolling Stone senior writer EJ Dickson, who has covered the case, appears on the episode to provide context around Blanchard’s virality. “She posted her first selfie of freedom, and it went wildly viral,” Dickson explained, referencing the mirror selfie Blanchard shared on Dec. 28 — one day after her release — that racked up millions of likes on Instagram. “I was seeing this trend where sort of treating her like this camp icon. But then I noticed people were positioning Gypsy like a mainstream celebrity.”
Blanchard has been tailed by paparazzi while adjusting to life outside of prison with her husband Ryan Anderson, whom she married while behind bars in 2022. She’s also inspired memes across Twitter and TikTok. But one of her biggest viral moments thus far came from Instagram, where she defending Anderson in a comment beneath one of his own selfie posts.
“Ryan, don’t listen to the haters. I love you, and you love me. We do not owe anyone anything. Our family is who matters. If you get likes and good comments great, if you get hate then whatever because THEY DON’T MATTER,” she wrote. “Besides they jealous because you are rocking my world every night…yeah I said it, the D is fire.”
When asked about the intimate nature of some of her online content, Blanchard told Roberts: “Well, I’m a newlywed. I’m newly married and I just came out, so I’m living my best married life with my husband. I don’t think that’s any different than any other wife would.”
