Gypsy Rose Blanchard Meets up with Ex-Fiancé Ken Urker Amid Separation: 'Being a Friend to Her' (Exclusive)
The meetup comes days after Gypsy Rose Blanchard announced her separation from her husband, Ryan Scott Anderson
Gypsy Rose Blanchard has met up with her ex-fiancé Ken Urker amid her separation from husband Ryan Scott Anderson, PEOPLE confirms.
In an interview with PEOPLE, Ken Urker's mother, Raina Williams, confirmed the two got lunch and went to a tattoo parlor in the days after Blanchard announced her split from Anderson. Blanchard's cousin, Bobby Pitre, who owns the parlor, confirms to PEOPLE the pair got tattoos together.
"They are not back together," Williams says. "They're very cool. Ken is just being a supportive friend to her and that's it."
"I think she's a sweet girl," Williams later added. "I think she's made her mistakes and she's trying to learn from them like anyone else. And I care a lot for Gypsy and I want to see good things happen for her."
Williams also said that she and her family have a sympathetic view of Blanchard, stating that she and Urker watched Mommy Dead and Dearest at around the same time and learned of Blanchard's story from the documentary. After watching, Urker wrote a letter to Blanchard in prison in 2018.
"He asked me before he wrote the letter and I thought it was a great idea just to show the girl that people out there her age can sympathize," Williams says.
Urker and Blanchard eventually became engaged before splitting up while she was still in prison. (Blanchard told E! Online in 2019 that the pair became engaged the year before.)
The pair's meet up, which included them both getting tattoos, Williams says, come days after Blanchard announced her separation from Anderson, a special education teacher from Louisiana who she married while still in prison in 2022. (The tattoo parlor was the same one at which Blanchard previously got a tattoo, accompanied by Anderson.)
"As of right now, there is no plans on a romantic scale right now," Williams says of Blanchard and Urker's friendship.
She adds later: "My son has never had any kind of ill intentions towards Gypsy. It devastated him when they broke up the first time. But he truly thought that was what was best for Gypsy."
Blanchard pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2016 for conspiring to murder her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, with her then-boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn. Blanchard was released in 2023 after serving eight years of her 10-year prison sentence. Godejohn, who carried out the murder of Dee Dee, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
After Blanchard's early prison release, she moved in with Anderson to begin their life outside of bars together. However, the pair's marriage did not come without complications.
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In Blanchard's 2024 Lifetime docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, she revealed that she was still in contact with Urker in the weeks leading up to her wedding with Anderson, and she admitted to still having feelings for him.
Related: How Did Gypsy Rose Blanchard Meet Her Husband? Everything They Have Said About Their Relationship
During a phone conversation between Anderson and Blanchard, she also reveals that she had a dream that she left Anderson for Urker, causing a fight between the couple. But it seems the pair were able to move past it the comments at the time and continue their relationship.
Related: Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Dad Gave Her Marriage a 50/50 Chance: 'She Can Be Spontaneous'
Blanchard announced her separation from Anderson on social media last week.
"People have been asking what is going on in my life. Unfortunately my husband and I are going through a separation and I moved in with my parents home down the bayou. I have the support of my family and friends to help guide me through this. I am learning to listen to my heart. Right now I need time to let myself find… who I am," she wrote in a statement obtained by PEOPLE from her private Facebook account.
Anderson has not made a public statement on the separation.
• With additional reporting by DANIELLE BACHER
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Read the original article on People.