True Crime Crossover? Gypsy Rose Blanchard Says Elizabeth Smart Reached Out To Her: “She’s An Inspiration”

Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been feeling the love since getting released from prison last month — both from Gen Zers and fellow public figures. According to Blanchard, Elizabeth Smart, who was the center of her own true crime story that captivated the nation, was one of the celebrities who reached out to voice her support.

Blanchard, who was first locked up in 2015 after asking her then-boyfriend to kill her mother in a desperate attempt to escape years of abuse, opened up about the message she received from Smart during a virtual press event held to promote her Lifetime docuseries The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.

“Elizabeth Smart actually reached out to me and I sent her a message back just telling her that I knew of her story a long time ago,” Blanchard said.

She continued, “I think that she’s an inspirational woman. I definitely think that she’s a great role model for me to follow because she took her situation that was a bad situation and she made a wonderful person out of herself in spite of it.”

Smart gained national attention when she was abducted at knifepoint from her Salt Lake City home at age 14. For the nine months that she was held captive before she was rescued, her kidnappers raped her daily, chained her up, and threatened to kill her if she tried to escape. Now, at 36 years old, Smart works as an advocate for child safety as well as a commentator for ABC News.

Since leaving prison, Blanchard, who has a whopping 8 million Instagram followers, has revealed her desire follow in Smart’s footsteps and begin advocacy work to help other victims of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

“Coming out and having this massive amount of social media followers gives a segue so I can start working on my advocacy work and bring more awareness to mental health issues, sexual abuse, physical abuse,” she said. “It feels like I’ve experienced a little bit of everything. So I definitely want to share what I have gained in wisdom and guidance [and] just be a guiding light for anyone who feels like they just are in a hopeless, helpless place.”

But despite her newfound fame, Blanchard would not consider herself to be a celebrity.

“I don’t like the term ‘celebrity,'” she said. “I think either ‘well-known’ or ‘public figure’ would probably be best to describe me because I consider celebrities to be actors, actresses and singers and I don’t fit into those categories.”

The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard will re-air on Lifetime on Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. ET and Jan. 14 at 10 a.m. ET.

If you suspect child abuse, contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or visit www.childhelp.org

If you or someone you know needs to reach out about sexual abuse or assault, RAINN is available 24/7 at 800-656-HOPE (4673), or online at RAINN.org.