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Who Is Gypsy Rose’s Dad Rod Blanchard? Inside His Relationship With His Daughter Then and Now
Gypsy Rose Blanchard is often associated with her late mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, whom she plotted to kill in 2015 with then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn in order to escape Dee Dee’s abuse. But what about Gypsy’s dad? Dee Dee told neighbors and doctors that her ex, Rod Blanchard, was an abusive drug addict and alcoholic who was not involved in his daughter’s life. However, this wasn’t true, according to Gypsy and her father.
Who Is Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Dad Rod Blanchard?
Dee Dee and Rod met when he in high school, Gypsy’s father told Buzzfeed News in 2016. At the time, he was 17 years old, while she was 24. The couple got married when they found out that Dee Dee was pregnant. However, the marriage was short-lived. Dee Dee and Rod got divorced when he was 18 years old, weeks before Gypsy was born.
“I wasn’t in love with her, really. I knew I got married for the wrong reasons,” he told the publication.
Despite his split from Dee Dee, Rod became close with Gypsy after she was born. He moved away and married a woman named Kristy when Gypsy was three months old, and the stepmother became close with Gypsy, too.
Though Gypsy was healthy at birth, Rod said that Dee Dee became convinced her daughter had sleep apnea at three months old. Dee Dee took Gypsy to the hospital, and though doctors could not find anything wrong, she refused to believe it. Soon enough, Gypsy began going to see other doctors for other alleged illnesses. Dee Dee kept Rod informed that their daughter was sick and receiving treatments. It’s now believed that Dee Dee had Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental illness that caused her to fabricate Gypsy’s illnesses and lie about her daughter’s age.
Rod and Kristy were involved in Gypsy’s life until she was 10 years old. However, Dee Dee then began to limit her daughter’s contact with the outside world, including her father. In his interview with Buzzfeed News, Rod recalled trying to call Gypsy on her 18th birthday. He claimed that Dee Dee answered the phone, reminding him that Gypsy thought she was only 14 and asking him not to upset her by revealing the truth.
Rod and his wife lost touch with Gypsy until after her arrest for Dee Dee’s murder. However, he continued to send child support payments and gifts, despite Dee Dee’s claims that he didn’t send anything.
“There was never a question whether or not I was going to stop paying,” he told Buzzfeed News.
Where Is Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Dad Now?
Today, Rod lives in Cut Off, Louisiana, and works as a ship master for Edison Chouest Offshore, according to his LinkedIn page.
Rod and Kristy went on to have two children of their own, including Gypsy’s half sister Mia. The couple and Mia were present at the premiere of the 2017 documentary about Gypsy’s life, Mommy Dead and Dearest, in New York. Additionally, they reunited with Gypsy for a homecoming party following her early release from prison on December 28, 2023.
Rod Blanchard Has Spoken About Gypsy’s Relationship With Her Mother
Rod continued to support Gypsy after Dee Dee’s murder. He told BuzzFeed that his ex-wife “created a web of lies” that made it difficult to escape.
“She got so wound up in it, it was like a tornado got started, and then once she was in so deep that there was no escaping. One lie had to cover another lie, had to cover another lie, and that was her way of life,” he continued.
Rod made it clear that he never judged Gypsy for what she did, telling Dr. Phil in 2017 that he was “never going to question” why she committed the crime. He also admitted to feeling guilty over not being able to help Gypsy when Dee Dee was alive.
“How can I let this happen? Why wasn’t I there for Gypsy more?” he said. “I could have built that relationship with her. She wouldn’t have hesitated to call me and say, ‘Daddy, this ain’t right.’”
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