Gypsy Rose Blanchard denies role in Ken Urker's death in first interview since he died

Gypsy Rose Blanchard denied any role in former partner Ken Urker’s death and broke down in tears during her first interview since he died, broadcast Sunday on 60 Minutes Australia.

In the interview, Blanchard said earlier, "Absolutely not. No." when asked whether she had anything to do with his death. She described the accusations as "disgusting to hear, because that was the love of my life."

Urker was found dead at his Raceland, Louisiana, home on Oct. 1, his 34th birthday. A Lafourche Parish Sheriff's Office spokesperson told People that authorities "found no evidence of foul play."

Reporter Amelia Adams interviewed Blanchard, 35, for the program. Court records show Blanchard was convicted in 2016 of second-degree murder for her role in the death of her mother, Clauddine "Dee Dee" Blanchard. 60 Minutes Australia said her mother had made Blanchard use a wheelchair despite being healthy and gave her medications to imitate serious illnesses.

"I've known Ken for almost nine years," Blanchard said. "No other man, no other person, had my heart like he did." She said she initially accused the person who told her about Urker’s death of lying.

"I just hit the floor and I just remember screaming, screaming, screaming, screaming, no, no, no," she said.

Online criticism and prison calls

Before his death, Urker had moved out and was struggling with criticism directed at him and their relationship, Blanchard said. "It was like things were fine in the home, we were happy," she said. "But online, there was so much negativity."

Blanchard said one accusation particularly hurt Urker. "It was definitely being called a child predator for no reason," she said. "That was one that really got to him because he's a father."

She said people had used that accusation since the relationship began in 2017, pointing to her small stature and high-pitched voice.

Blanchard agreed that the release of her recorded prison calls marked a turning point for Urker, and said the leak sent him into a spiral of alcohol and drug abuse. The recordings contained racist slurs by Blanchard, who apologized in a since-deleted TikTok video posted in August, Page Six reported.

"That was the point in which it, it's kind of like, 'at what point does someone's past become too much to take?'" she said.

"That's why there are those that say, 'Ken would still be alive had he not been in a relationship with you because he wouldn't have had the online scrutiny if he wasn't with you'," Blanchard said.

Investigation and relationship

Deputies went to Urker’s home for a welfare check after he missed work and stopped answering his phone and door, according to a sheriff’s report People obtained and The Blast cited. People reported that drug paraphernalia and a holstered handgun were near his body.

Following an Oct. 2 autopsy, the parish coroner told NBC News that a definitive cause of death had yet to be determined. TV Insider, citing NBC News, reported that deputies found Urker dead from an apparent drug overdose.

In an earlier Change.org petition, Blanchard said toxicology results were pending but "it was not suicide," the Daily Mail reported.

Urker and Blanchard met as prison pen pals while she served time for her role in her mother’s killing. They became engaged in 2018 during her imprisonment, later split and reconnected in 2024 after she separated from Ryan Anderson.

60 Minutes Australia first interviewed them in New Orleans in 2024 while they were expecting their daughter, Aurora. Their relationship appeared on the reality series "Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up."

"I feel like I'm in the dark," Blanchard said, adding that they had planned for everything. "I wouldn't have to do it alone," she said. "And now that's changed, and I feel lost."

Blanchard is campaigning in Urker’s memory for proposed anti-cyberbullying legislation called Kenan's Law. Urker’s official cause of death has not been announced.