Except all the medical conditions were a ruse – concoctions of Dee Dee's Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a disorder characterized by fabricated or induced medical conditions for attention or sympathy. Gypsy could walk and never needed a feeding tube, yet was forced to keep up the act by her mother.
According to Macelli, Gypsy Rose claims that Hulu's show is "inaccurate," especially when it comes to the portrayals of her sex life, which Gypsy Rose says was "dramatized to make her seem like a nymphomaniac." The subject of the TV series added that her mother tying her to her bed (which happens multiple times in The ...
Her horrific tale has become the source material for dramatic retelling, The Act – starring Patricia as mother Dee Dee and Joey King as Gypsy. But the real Gypsy has since made clear she had no part of the series and did not give permission for her life story to be used.
While Gypsy had known she could walk and eat regular food, she had believed she had leukemia. Today Gypsy is healthy. She's also said she enjoys more freedom in prison than in the life she shared with Dee Dee.
When she turned 5, Dee Dee declared Gypsy could no longer walk, because she had muscular dystrophy and epilepsy. She put her daughter in a wheelchair.
According to the American Dental Association (ADA), teeth will sometimes need to be removed because of decay, disease, or trauma. In Gypsy's case, her teeth were severely decayed.
'” As for her teeth, they did rot and were subsequently removed, likely due to the removal of Gypsy's salivary glands. According to Gypsy, her mother used a numbing agent to numb her gums, causing her to drool, which helped convince doctors to remove the glands.
She was also seen expressing immediate regret at the murder of her mother, and was desperately attempting to cover her up. However, in an interview following her arrest, Gypsy didn't think she was going to be caught at all – in fact, she thought their entire plan was faultless.
While Gypsy Rose was allowed to have a relationship with her father in real life, Dee Dee lied about Rod and who he was, to people outside of her home. Per Buzzfeed: Dee Dee kept Rod updated on his daughter's whereabouts and medical circumstances.
Speech experts have weighed in on why her voice was so high pitched, with some reasoning that she was doing it almost unconsciously in response to being infantilized by her mother, Dee Dee, who had convinced her that she was years younger than she was.
In addition to being told she had leukemia, muscular dystrophy and epilepsy, Gypsy Rose Blanchard never even knew her real age.
Eventually, she destroyed Gypsy Rose's phone so the teenagers couldn't speak anymore. The friends lost touch. In doing so, Gypsy Rose lost one of her few allies outside her toxic home environment.
In the trailer, Dee Dee says Gypsy was born in 1995, to which Gypsy responds, “I thought you said I was born in 1993?” Later, Gypsy discovers she was actually born even earlier when she finds her insurance card that states her birthday as July 1991.
Experts say that Gypsy Rose was the victim of a condition previously known as Munchausen syndrome by proxy—now referred to as factitious disorder imposed on another (FDIA)—a mental health disorder where a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury to a person under their care for attention and sympathy.
In reality, the only health issue Gypsy suffers from is minor vision impairment in her left eye. “I have a little bit of a lazy eye, not all the time,” she said. Other than that, Gypsy has a perfectly clear bill of health.
YouTubeGypsy Rose Blanchard on a trip to Disney World, which was sponsored by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In 2010, Dee Dee was telling everyone that Gypsy Rose was 14, but she was actually 19 years old. By then, she knew she wasn't as sick as her mother claimed — as she was well aware that she could walk.
At the same time both qualitative and quantitative studies show a steady trend of gradual increase in the marriageable age and age at first child birth among Roma, and today most of the Romani females get married after reaching the lawful age of 18.
Who is Nicholas Godejohn? Before Nicholas “Nick” Godejohn crossed paths with Gypsy, he was living in Wisconsin with his family. While not much is known about him personally, he was reportedly diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and a low-average IQ.
In 2016, Gypsy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Two years later, Nicholas was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The meeting did not go as planned—Dee Dee hated Godejohn—but Gypsy was still able to sneak away and lose her virginity to Godejohn in a bathroom stall, according to her testimony at his trial.
According to the Buzzfeed article upon which The Act is based, on Gypsy's 18th birthday her father called to say "hello." Dee Dee told him not to tell Gypsy how old she was, because supposedly Gypsy thought she was still 14.
Did Gypsy Rose and Nicholas Really Have Sex in a Movie Theater Bathroom? Yes. This really happened, down to the movie they were both there to see, the live-action Cinderella. Gypsy Rose recounted losing her virginity in the HBO doc Mommy Dead and Dearest.
In reality, the only health issue Gypsy suffers from is minor vision impairment in her left eye. “I have a little bit of a lazy eye, not all the time,” she said.
On-screen performances aside, The Act also highlights a psychological disorder called Munchausen syndrome by proxy. Dee Dee Blanchard, Gypsy Rose's mother, reportedly had Munchhausen syndrome by proxy which caused her to fabricate Gypsy's physical wellbeing.
Joey King reveals she shaved her head to get into character as Gypsy Rose Blanchard in The Act... after she said it felt 'really empowering' to go bald. She's set to portray Gypsy Rose Blanchard, a woman who murdered her mother Dee Dee in 2015 after she convinced her she was ill her entire life.