Gypsy Rose Blanchard’s Boyfriend Ken Urker Reveals How They ‘Reconnected’ After Her Prison Release (Exclusive)

Ken Urker has re-discovered love with Gypsy Rose Blanchard, and he isn’t letting go.

In an exclusive conversation with PEOPLE, the bartender, 31, opened up about how the couple reconnected after calling off their engagement.

Blanchard, former inmate and famed victim of Munchausen by proxy, first connected with Urker when she was still behind bars for the murder of her mother, Dee Dee Blanchard, who made her undergo years of intense medical treatments that she did not need.

In October 2018, Urker proposed to Blanchard, though they briefly called off their engagement before reuniting in August 2019. Despite their reconciliation, the two ended up going their separate ways for the second time.

Blanchard then met her estranged husband Ryan Anderson in 2020 and eventually tied tied the knot in July 2022 while she was still in prison. After she was released on Dec. 28, 2023, Blanchard announced her separation from Anderson less than four months later.

Now, Urker tells PEOPLE how he and Blanchard found their way back to each other.

“We first reconnected the very first weekend of April is when I came to visit her for the first time after she had gotten out,” he recalls. “We spent that weekend together and had an incredible time.”

After that first meeting, things snowballed when they met up a month later to attend Jazz Fest.

“Then shortly after that, we realized we were going to have a baby. So then I moved down here,” he says of their home in Missouri.

When it comes to family, Urker says his loved ones have “fully and embraced and accepted Gypsy as a part of the family.”

“My dad, my mom, my brothers and sisters are all thrilled just to know that we’re happy and we have a beautiful baby girl,” he continues. “And I mean, they’re all very supportive and happy to have Gypsy as a part of our family now.”

It’s no secret Blanchard has been dealt tough cards in life, but Urker admits it’s been amazing to see how she’s “blossomed into an incredible person” since her release from prison.

“I couldn’t be more proud to have her as the mother of our child and as a partner in life,” he smiles. “And I think that even after all the things that she’s gone through, that was one of the things that I loved about her from the beginning.”

“She retained such a kind spirit and loving personality. You would think that on paper, that somebody who had been through that much trauma would be affected in some of the worst ways,” he explains. “And for her, I didn’t see it. I saw such a incredible spirit and soul. That’s what ultimately made me fall in love with her.”

“But since she’s gotten out, she continues to just grow and become the best version of herself. And I couldn’t be happier to have her at my side in this life,” Urker adds.

When Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up season 2 premieres in March, fans will be able to see what Blanchard’s life looks like now as she juggles life as a free woman, a pending divorce, a rekindled romance and her unexpected journey into motherhood.

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Gypsy Rose: Life After Lock Up season 2 premieres Monday, March 10 at 9 p.m. ET on Lifetime.