'The Prison Confessions Of Gypsy Rose Blanchard' Night 1 Recap For Biography.com
The three-day Lifetime docuseries marks one of Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s first major interviews since being released from prison December 28.
The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard are a culmination of 18 months of interviews, over the phone and in prison, with the titular Gypsy Rose Blanchard. The Lifetime docuseries, airing nightly through Sunday, marks one of the first times she has spoken about her life in more than five years.
The 32-year-old was a victim of Munchausen syndrome by proxy—a disease officially known as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA) in which a caretaker pretends and/or even induces illnesses in their loved ones to get praise for taking care of a sick person—and a conspirator in the 2015 murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard. Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 and was sentenced to 10 years at Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri. On December 28, 2023, she was released early after being granted parole.
In Prison Confessions, Blanchard opens up about a number of traumatizing experiences that haven’t been shared before, like allegations of sexual abuse and the severity of her mother’s physical and emotional abuse. The first two episodes cover a lot of the background of the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, with interviews from her family members, public defender, neuropsychologist, and pediatrician from when she was 13. It’s a great refresher of a lot of the information revealed in the 2017 HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest but with even more details and anecdotes, such as the fact that Blanchard never thought her father was a viable escape plan because her mother had told her he didn’t want her.
What Happened on Night 1
The series begins 24 hours before Blanchard’s parole hearing on December 9, 2021, and breaks down the most egregious abuses in her life, organized by year and what age Gypsy was at the time. Speakers like Beatrice Yorker, an FDIA expert, and Gypsy’s psychologist Dr. John Matthew Fabian offer insight into the depths of Dee Dee’s abuse of Gypsy.
One of the most shocking revelations is Gypsy’s allegations of being molested by her grandfather, Claude Pitre, when she was a child. “At 9, I don’t think that I knew that it was wrong. But then my grandfather told me not to tell anyone. You don’t want me to go to jail, do you?” Blanchard said. She also speaks publicly for the first time about her addiction to painkillers that began after a painful, unnecessary surgery.
Blanchard gave more details about her first attempt at running away, with a 36-year-old man named Dan that she had met at Vision Con. She revealed that she made the decision to leave after learning that she was actually 19 years old, when her mother had been telling her she was still only 15. Dee Dee had gone so far as to change Gypsy’s birth year on official forms, which alarmed Gypsy’s pediatrician, Dr. Robert Steele, when he saw three different birth years listed for her: 1991, 1993, and 1995. In the docuseries, he admits he was the one who contacted the Department of Family Services anonymously in 2009, because he thought she might have been kidnapped. When DFS came out for an inspection, Gypsy said she loved her mother, and they didn’t dig enough to find any evidence at their home, nor did anyone follow up.
Years after Dee Dee’s murder, Gypsy knows what she did was wrong but admitted she didn’t think she had any other way out. Gypsy took a trauma therapy class in prison and is coming to terms with the emotional, physical, and medical abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother.
Our Thoughts
It’s genuinely jarring to hear and see the lengths that Dee Dee went to to keep Gypsy young, like forcing her to wear a diaper when she got her period instead of explaining how to use pads and tampons—something Gypsy eventually learned about from a woman in prison.
In the interview, Blanchard comes across as nervous but confident and seems happy to be able to finally tell her own story. The editing, reenactments, and music make for a truly compelling watch, even when rehashing previously published information. Teasers following the episodes promise more shocking revelations and a lot of tears.
Overall Rating: 4
Drama Rating: 4
How to Watch The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard
You can stream the first two episodes for free on mylifetime.com through January 15.
Nights two and three of The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard air on the Lifetime network on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, at 8 p.m. ET. Check back for more nightly recaps and reactions.
This was originally published on Biography.com.
