Gypsy Rose Blanchard opened up about her hopes for her relationship with late ex-fiancé Ken Urker just over a year before his death at age 34.
“I really just hope we continue to have open communication,” Blanchard, 35, told People in March 2025. “I hope that we can get even more knowledge and let down our walls, because I’ve built walls over many years, and I think everybody has a set of walls they put up. So, I think it would be wonderful for us to bring those down and be the most vulnerable we’ve ever been with each other.”
The former couple first connected in 2017 following the release of the HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, which documented the events leading up to Gypsy Rose pleading guilty to the second-degree murder of her late mother, Clauddine “Dee Dee” Blanchard, in 2015.
Urker wrote Gypsy Rose a supportive letter after watching the film, and they soon began a romance while she served her prison sentence. They got engaged in 2018 before splitting the following year.
However, Gypsy Rose and Urker eventually reconciled following her split from ex-husband Ryan Anderson in 2024. Urker and Gypsy Rose welcomed their only child, a daughter named Aurora Raina, in December 2024.
Shortly after the birth of their daughter, Gypsy Rose confirmed to People that she and Urker were in couple’s counseling.
“I like it because it gives an unbiased opinion,” she explained. “Because you don’t want to go to your family all the time to talk about the bad stuff. You never want to have anybody going, ‘Oh, I think…’ You don’t want their opinions to be changed or affected or a bias or anything.”
The Life After Lockup star suggested it was “nice” to have a neutral space where she and Urker could work through any conflicts.
“They can see my side, they can see his side and give us an honest opinion about where we should go and how we could improve,” Gypsy Rose noted.
At that time, Gypsy Rose said she could envision being with Urker forever.
“I’ve always felt that way about him,” she declared.
On Thursday, October 1, the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana confirmed to Us that Urker had been “found dead upon arrival” at his residence earlier in the day and that an investigation remained open.
Gypsy Rose broke her silence by telling People that she was not sure whether Urker’s death was “intentional or not,” adding that he “was not in a good state of mind lately.”
“I’m in disbelief. I can’t think,” she said. “I’ve screamed until my throat burns.”
Ken’s sister, Autumn Urker, also opened up about his death by going live on TikTok on Thursday night. Autumn broke down into tears during the stream, revealing that his final words to her were “I love you.”
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