Dr. Phil presents excerpts from exclusive interview with Gypsy Rose Blanchard. / Dr. Phil
Gypsy Rose Blanchard spent years being abused by her mother, but in 2015 she and her boyfriend planned and murdered Dee Dee Blanchard.
The Missouri woman is serving 10 years in prison for second-degree murder and has since spoke to Dr Phil about the ordeal in a 2017 interview.
Dee Dee allegedly suffered from a mental illness called Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP), which occurs when a person attempts to produce psychological or physical symptoms in another person in order to get sympathy.
Dee Dee (right) told people Gypsy had leukaemia, cerebral palsy and other conditions, and forced her to undergo unnecessary operations.
Gypsy was forced by her mother to use a wheelchair and undergo unnecessary medical procedures so the pair could get donations from many charities.
In a previously unaired clip from the interview, the now 27-year-old revealed what happened during the moment her mother was stabbed by her then-boyfriend Nicholas Godejohn, who is now serving a life sentence for first-degree murder.
The clip was shared in light of Dr Phil's new podcast, The Killer Thorn of Gypsy Rose: Analysis of a Murder by Dr Phil.
During the except, Dr Phil questioned Gypsy about her mother's abuse.
"She kept you in a wheelchair, she kept you on a feed tube," he said.
"She said that I had muscular dystrophy, but I knew I could walk," Gypsy replied.
"You were tortured as a child ... You thought this was your only exit?", Dr Phil asked.
"I thought it was," she replied.
"The night of the murder your mother was screaming your name," Dr Phil said.
"I put my hands over my ears and then it all went quiet," Gypsy replied.
The relationship between Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee was once described by a friend as "perfect".
Gypsy, who started chatting with Godejohn on a Christian dating website, met in person at a movie theatre in 2015.
It was then they came up with the idea to kill her mother.
In the same 2017 interview, Dr Phil told Gypsy she needed to "own her part" in the murder of her mother.
"Nick (Godejohn) is going to have to own what he's done," Dr Phil said. "And you have to own your part. Your mother wasn't even on his radar until you put her there."
"This is not a typical situation. You are both victim and perpetrator."
"You were chronically victimised by a sick and demented woman — if she's done all the things it appears and the records reflect that she has done to you."
Gypsy also spoke about her boyfriend and she was angry that Godejohn didn't take a more "responsible" approach to her like calling police and reporting the abuse.
"I can't stand him because I went from one abusive person to another," she said.
Gypsy Rose was forced by her mother to be in a wheelchair and appear unwell her whole life.
"I asked him a question. I asked him to kill my mother. But I didn't hold a gun to his head and make him do it. He seemed more happy to do it than anything."
Dr Phil goes on to speak about the abuse Gypsy endured, including being forced to have a feeding tube and Dee Dee telling other that she was mentally incompetent.
"On one hand, can it be looked at as self-defence?" Dr Phil asked Blanchard. "She was dicing you up, girl. How many surgeries did you have?"
Gypsy told him she had 30 different procedures, including multiple eye, leg and throat surgeries. Her salivary glands were also removed.
"You have been cut open. You had parts taken out of you. You got hacked up. You got poisoned," Dr Phil said. "Your childhood was stolen from you. Your adolescence was stolen from you."
She also told Dr Phil that she is working on forgiving her mother, as well as forgiving herself.
Gypsy Rose Blanchard and mum Dee Dee.
"You are very conflicted right now. I mean, you feel guilty on one hand and very exploited on another," he said. "That is because both things are true. You were terribly victimised. You were tortured as a child year after year after year.
"It's just a perfect storm of bad circumstance and bad psyche," he continued. "I think that is why they were willing to make a plea deal with you instead of dropping the hammer on you."
Gypsy also spoke about what she thought about the 10-year sentence she was given.
"I believe firmly that, no matter what, murder is not okay. But at the same time, I don't believe I deserve as many years as I got," she said at the time.
Nicholas Godejohn (left) is on trial for his part in the murder, while Gypsy Blanchard (right) pleaded guilty to 2nd degree murder and is serving 10 years. Photo / Supplied
Later, in a separate ABC 20/20 interview, Gypsy said she felt "like a prisoner" before her mother was killed.
"The prison that I was living in before, with my mom, it's, like, I couldn't walk. I couldn't eat. I couldn't have friends. I couldn't go outside, you know, and play with friends or anything," she said.
"Over here, I feel like I'm freer in prison than with living with my mom. Because now, I'm allowed to … just live like a normal woman."
Gypsy story has been shared vastly in TV series, including an HBO documentary and the Lightbox series The Act, which stars Patricia Arquette as Dee Dee and Joey King as Gypsy Rose Blanchard.
