Todd Chrisley opens up about life behind bars and his first moments out of prison
Nashville, Tenn. - Todd Chrisley is out of prison and not shying away from the spotlight.
On Friday, the "Chrisley Knows Best" star spoke out during a press conference in his home city of Nashville, Tennessee, and gave a glimpse of what his time behind prison bars looked like."I call it the BOP glow," Chrisley joked about his appearance to Fox News Digital, as he referred to the Bureau of Prisons. "I'll actually have more access to better products now that I'm out."
"I had nothing to do other than to read and to work out," he remarked. "I worked out every morning at 10:45 until 12:00 with my buddies there… I read and my walk with Christ became deeper."
Faith, family and fitness were the pillars that carried Chrisley through incarceration, he pointed out. He credited speaking with his children—Savannah, Chase and Grayson—as a saving grace. He also kept in touch with his wife of 30 years, Julie, through daily emails.
"I talked to my daughter every day. To Chase, to Grayson. And I was able to email with Julie every day," Chrisley shared. "So I think that for me, I haven't had the same effects that so many people leaving the prison system have had. So I'm grateful for that."
Chrisley remained in good spirits after his prison release and joked, "Or maybe it's just all the residual Botox that never wore off."
He also spoke about reuniting with his family, explaining to Fox News Digital, "I don't even know that I felt like it was real at that moment. And I woke up the first morning, and I was looking around, and I'm like, 'This is really real, I'm home.' So I was grateful for our family to be all back in the same room, to be together, to share a meal together, to pray together, and to know that we're still in the fight together."
This marked the first time Chrisley has spoken to the media since his conviction for tax evasion and bank fraud in 2022.
Todd and Julie were convicted of conspiring to defraud community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans as well as tax evasion and sentenced to 12 and seven years, respectively. Their sentences were later reduced.
The Chrisley patriarch also said during Friday's news conference that his wife remained resilient through her time in prison, and she is ecstatic to be reunited with her family, especially her children.
"Julie, who is a wonderful, decent, God-fearing woman – and that I am blessed to have been married to and been with for over 30 years now – an excellent mother," he said. "She's at home with [daughter] Chloe right now, and Chloe will not let her go."
Chrisley added that their focus remains on faith, healing and truth as he referred to their upcoming reality docuseries. "We're blessed to be coming back to television, because we do have a much bigger story to tell now than we ever have," he shared.
The Lifetime network previously greenlit a docuseries — "The Untitled Chrisleys Project" — on the family prior to Todd and Julie's release from prison.
The project, which is set to premiere later this year, showcases how the Chrisleys have navigated the family hardship, as Todd and Julie were behind bars for bank fraud and tax evasion.
On Wednesday, Todd first walked out of a federal prison in Pensacola, Florida, after serving two and a half years in prison, according to lawyer Alex Little's office. The release came shortly after President Donald Trump signed pardons for both Todd and Julie.
"Todd has been released from prison and is on his way home to Nashville," Little's office told Fox News Digital.
Little's office confirmed to Fox News Digital that Julie was released from the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, on Wednesday night, shortly after Todd was released. "Julie has also been released from prison and is now on her way home to Nashville as well," Little's office told Fox News Digital.
Savannah got emotional outside the federal prison in Pensacola awaiting her father's release earlier in the day.
When speaking to reporters, Savannah said, "Honestly, this process has been absolutely insane, and I am so grateful that I'm going to leave here with my dad."
Savannah claimed that prosecutors had her father's head "on a dart board" before his prison sentence. She read Trump's pardon to the reporters, which stated an immediate release, and she said she hopes "the prison is going to do that shortly."
Savannah said Trump's pardon for her parents "literally came out of nowhere."
"I was in such shock and awe that the president himself took the time to tell me my family is coming back together," she said. During her interview, Savannah got emotional while explaining her constant fight to get her parents released from prison wasn't just for them.
"I'm literally fighting for every man that has been left behind here," she said, referring to the prisoners in the federal prison in Pensacola.
On Thursday, Savannah posted a photo of her parents reunited.
While the photo did not show their faces, both were sitting close to one another, with Todd wearing his wedding band.
"Reunited and it feels so good," Savannah wrote over the photo.
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