Gypsy Rose Blanchard May Be Engaged, But the Wedding Will Have to Wait a Few Years

The case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard is stranger than fiction. Ever since she was found guilty of plotting to murder her mother — who fooled the world into thinking Gypsy Rose had epilepsy, cancer, and a myriad of diseases that left her wheelchair-bound and feeding-tube-dependent — there has been no shortage of material written about her story.

First, there was the viral long-form piece that brought her case into the public eye. Then there was the HBO documentary, Mommy Dead and Dearest, which was followed by countless investigative reports on Investigation Discovery and 20/20. Recently, her story has even been turned into a limited fictional series on Hulu by the name of The Act.

Some new details have surfaced surrounding Gypsy Rose, who's currently serving her 10-year sentence for pleading guilty to second-degree murder. For one, she recently opened up to Bustle about her thoughts on the fictionalized show. "I feel it is very unfair and unprofessional that producers and co-producer Michelle Dean has used my actual name and story without my consent, and the life rights to do so," she said in a written statement.

Another surprising update to her story is the fact that Gypsy Rose got engaged just last week to a man she found love with while behind bars. And now that wedding bells may soon be on the horizon for the 27-year-old, many who are fascinated by her case are bubbling with questions. 

Like, when does Gypsy Rose get out of jail? Who is she marrying? Does she have an engagement ring? And whatever happened to her ex-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, who conspired to murder Gypsy Rose's mother? Keep reading to find out.

After killing her mother, Dee Dee, Gypsy Rose pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016. She was sentenced to ten years at Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri. This means she'll be released in 2026, though she'll be eligible for parole two years earlier, in 2024, right before her 33rd birthday.

However, Gypsy's father and stepmom are hoping for an earlier release, and many members of her community — as well as others sympathetic to her story — have begun signing petitions for her to get out sooner and pressuring the Missouri governor to pardon her altogether.

But Gypsy Rose is thriving in jail — much more so than she ever did on the outside, considering her mother, who suffered from an intense form of Munchausen-by-proxy syndrome, kept her severely ill and wheelchair-bound, and never allowed her contact with peers of her own age. "Despite everything, she still tells me that she's happier now than with her mom," Gypsy Rose's stepmom told the Springfield News-Leader. "And that if she had a choice to either be in jail, or back with her mom, she would rather be in jail. For Gypsy, it's a lot of freedom."

While behind bars, Gypsy has been working toward her GED and even forging new friendships through the prison's pen pal program. Most notable of all of her pen pals is the unnamed man she's currently engaged to marry.

Possibly as a result of all the attention she's been receiving, Gypsy Rose is being very cautious with the details of her recent engagement. Family friend Fancy Macelli told In Touch that Gypsy is choosing to keep "him very private. We're not going to release his name or anything like that, but she does have a fiancé. That's something she wouldn't have ever been able to do with her mom: be engaged."

Gypsy Rose's fiancé started writing to her after he watched Mommy Dead and Dearest. Riddled with pity and empathy for Gypsy Rose, he reached out with some words of encouragement. Well, that turned into a relationship through email — and if we know anything about Gypsy Rose, it's that she's no stranger to online relationships.

The emails turned into visits, which turned into a friendship that later turned into more than a friendship. "At the beginning of this year," says Fancy, "they decided to get engaged."

Fancy Macelli is trying to launch her own first-hand series about family friend Gypsy Rose called By Proxy. "By Proxy follows the story through to the end of the trials and has stories from friends, family and outside sources," the project's description reads. "We are the only story that has the cooperation of all families involved, including the Godejohn family, the Pitre family (Dee Dee's family), Gypsy herself, the Blanchard family, and various friends and family dating over several periods of time in Gypsy and Dee Dee's life."

According to the photos on By Proxy's Facebook page, Gypsy Rose has even managed to nab an engagement ring. However, this ring wasn't given to her by her fiancé. Instead, it belonged to another inmate who was going through a divorce and wanted Gypsy Rose to keep it for the time being. "They'll go together and pick out rings, obviously later, at a time when she's out and they could do that and have their own intimate moment," Fancy explained.

For the time being, they're very happy talking on the phone several times a week and having occasional supervised visits. It's also worth noting that Gypsy Rose's current relationship is built on the foundation of love and respect. "She's 27 years old," Fancy commented. "She deserves to be in love and she deserves to have someone who cares for her."

Unlike her relationship with Nicholas Godejohn, Gypsy Rose no longer has to keep her engagement a secret. This means that many members of her family can also be more involved and look out for Gypsy Rose's best interest. Her father and stepmother are in regular contact with the young man through phone calls and emails, and even plan to visit him next month.

As for Godejohn, whose trial was delayed several times, Gypsy Rose's conspirator finally got his day in court in November of last year. Unlike Gypsy Rose, Godejohn tried to plead not guilty on the grounds of being a "low-functioning person with autism" who had been manipulated by his girlfriend, but the jury was not having it. They found him guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole in February 2019.

Before his sentencing, Godejohn told the court that all he wanted was to be with Gypsy Rose, having never had a close relationship with any woman or even known motherly love. "It's missing. It's always been a missing link," he said. "That's the reason why, I guess when I got so deep into this situation where I fell in love so deeply ... I admit it; I was blind in love."

Now that he's had some time to think about what happened and his relationship with Gypsy Rose, he told 20/20, "As far as I'm concerned, she's as guilty as I am. I believe she needed to serve some time for what she made me do." But while remorseful of his part in the crime, he does admit to still loving her. "There is a part of me that will probably always love her, but she's hurt me so badly. I guess you could say my feelings go the best of me," he said. "I ended up loving someone way too much."

New episodes of The Act stream Wednesdays on Hulu.