Gypsy Rose Blanchard's estranged husband Ryan Anderson reveals he was blindsided by their split - and had no clue she still had 'strong feelings' for her ex boyfriend

Gypsy Rose Blanchard's estranged husband has broken cover to tell of his shock and devastation at their separation.

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ryan Anderson confirmed that he and mom murderer Blanchard have separated over her continued relationship with her ex-fiancé Ken Urker.

He said: 'I'm not doing well with it. For me it just came out of the blue. I had no idea she still had such strong feelings for him.'

Seen in these exclusive pictures, special needs teacher, Anderson, 37, clutched Pixie, the cute little shih tzu pup that he and Blanchard, 32, adopted together in January as he told DailyMail.com that he was 'for sure' keeping the dog. 

Barely four months ago Anderson posted about his perfect life on Instagram when he introduced Pixie to followers in a picture of her with Blanchard and wrote: 'My two favorite girls…my family is adorable…I'm so lucky.'

Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, Ryan Anderson confirmed that he and wife Gypsy Rose Blanchard have separated over her continued relationship with her ex-fiancé Ken Urker

Anderson, seen in his neighborhood of Lake Charles, Louisiana, on Thursday, said: 'I'm not doing well with it. For me it just came out of the blue. I had no idea she still had such strong feelings for him'

The now-separated couple were seen in Midtown Manhattan during Gypsy Rose's NYC press tour in early January, days after her release

Pictures emerged of a beaming Blanchard hand-in-hand with Urker, who first started writing to her in 2018, this week

But the happily ever after he assumed would follow the Munchausen's-by-proxy victim's December release, after serving eight years for the murder of her mother, has come to nothing.

Instead, just a day ago on Thursday, pictures emerged of Blanchard hand in hand with Urker, who first started writing to her in 2018 having seen the HBO documentary of her childhood, 'Mommy Dearest.' 

They broke up not long before she started her prison romance with Anderson in 2020.

Apparently without a care in the world, a beaming Blanchard and Urker were seen visiting a Dollar General store in South Louisiana and casually smoking a cigarette together. 

They made no effort to hide the matching Husky dog tattoos they got just days earlier.

For Anderson it was a cruel and confusing display of their closeness.

He told DailyMail.com: 'I haven't spoken to her, so I just don't know what's going on. I'm at a loss. I'm really not doing well at all.'

Blanchard and Anderson attended the January premiere of 'The Prison Confessions Of Gypsy Rose Blanchard'

For weeks on end, the pair put on increasingly public displays of their affection for one another. They are seen here ringing in the new year 

The seemingly happy couple had caused quite a commotion on social media following Blanchard's release, complete with raunchy messages directed at one another left on public accounts

It has been almost two weeks since Blanchard 'blindsided' her husband and moved out of their marital home in Lake Charles and back into her father and stepmother's home in Cut Off, Louisiana, some three hours' drive away.

Urker wasted no time in flying from Texas to be by her side and while Blanchard has insisted that there is 'no intimacy' between the pair and that he is simply being a supportive friend, Anderson is clear that the relationship is to blame for the end of his marriage.

Neither Blanchard's father, Rod, nor her stepmother, Kristy, were in favor of her marrying Anderson. For his part, Rod said he gave the marriage 50/50 odds, 'at best.'

The relationship began during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 when Netflix hit show, 'Tiger King' was garnering huge public attention. 

One of Anderson's co-workers wanted to write to Tiger King, Joe 'Exotic Maldonado-Passage, and so Anderson told him: 'If you write to him, I'll write to Gypsy Rose Blanchard.'

Blanchard's family have voiced concerns that the relationship started as little more than, 'a dare.'

But according to one family member who spoke to DailyMail.com, Anderson went into it, 'with the best of intentions.'

The relative said: 'He really loves her. Ryan's a really good guy. You won't get better than Ryan. But she's scarred by all that has happened to her.

Blanchard moved out of the marital home in Lake Charles and back into her father and stepmother's home in Cut Off, Louisiana some three hours' away. Urker wasted no time in flying from Texas to be by her side 

Blanchard has insisted that there is 'no intimacy' between the pair and that he is simply being a supportive friend

Barely four months ago Anderson posted about his perfect life on Instagram when he introduced Pixie to followers in a picture of her with Blanchard and wrote, 'My two favorite girls…my family is adorable…I'm so lucky'

'We thought Gypsy was doing okay but she's not. Ryan's having counseling and I know she's court mandated to do it but it's like there's forces inside Gypsy pulling against her.'

Blanchard's traumatic childhood and early adulthood has been fodder for documentaries, movies, books and countless magazine, newspaper, and online articles.

She was released from Chillicothe Correctional Center in Missouri in December 28, after being granted early parole having served eight of a ten-year sentence for her role in the infamous murder of her mother Dee Dee.

In what has become one of the best-known cases of Munchausen's-by-proxy Blanchard spent her childhood posing as a wheelchair bound invalid while Dee Dee subjected her to years of ill health, shaving her head, pumping her full of unnecessary medications, and convincing the world that she was suffering from leukemia and muscular dystrophy.

She cynically paraded the child at charity events and fundraisers, garnering sympathy and money for the conditions that didn't exist and the illness that she herself was inflicting on her daughter.

Blanchard's mother's stranglehold came to an end in 2015 when she persuaded the boyfriend she had met online, Nicholas Godejohn, to creep into their home in Springfield, Missouri and stab her mother to death. 

Blanchard later testified against Godejohn at his trial, and he is now serving a life sentence.

The now-separated couple are seen together shopping in Liberty, Missouri the afternoon she was released from prison

Gypsy Rose (left) with her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who was murdered by Gypsy and her then boyfriend in 2015

In recent years Blanchard has spoken about her desire to live a normal life and enjoy 'the simple things,' but her existence with Anderson since her much longed for release has clearly failed to live up to her hopes.

The family member told DailyMail.com: 'I don't know if either of them has spoken to divorce attorneys, but the split is real. It's done.'

Meanwhile according to TMZ Blanchard has told family and friends that her marriage came to an end because of Anderson's argumentativeness and constant jealousy over the amount of time she wanted to spend with her father.

According to the report, Blanchard was keen to rebuild her relationship with her father after so many years behind bars but instead of supporting her efforts Anderson attacked them.

Announcing the split in a private Facebook post obtained by People, Blanchard simply wrote: '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.'