Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley and Savannah Chrisley talk their return to reality TV
The Chrisley family is speaking out ahead of their return to reality TV.
“Nightline” co-anchor Juju Chang sat down with Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley and their daughter Savannah Chrisley before their new series, “The Chrisleys: Back to Reality” premieres on Sept. 1.
Savannah Chrisley describes the new reality show as a departure from the family’s previous show “Chrisley Knows Best," which ran for 10 seasons between 2014 and 2023.
“We've said for 10 years that ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ was a scripted comedy,” Savannah Chrisley told Chang in an interview airing Tuesday, Sept. 2, on "Nightline." “But this show, we peel back the layers. We break it down. You're gonna see the dysfunction. You're going to see the fight and the tears and everything we had to go through to get to today.”
In 2022, Todd and Julie Chrisley were convicted of bank fraud, wire fraud and tax evasion and an appeals court upheld their convictions. Todd Chrisley was sentenced to 12 years in prison and 16 months of probation. Julie Chrisley, meanwhile, was sentenced to seven years in prison and 16 months of probation.
The husband and wife were sent to federal prison and served just over two years before President Donald Trump pardoned the couple in May.
The Chrisleys have maintained their innocence, and after Todd Chrisley was released from prison in May, he said, "I was convicted of something I did not do."
Julie Chrisley and Todd Chrisley told ABC News that since their prison release, their interactions with fans have been mixed.
“The ones that I interact with that come up to me, they are lovely,” Julie Chrisley said. “The majority of the negative comments are not even really about us.”
“It's about who signed our pardon,” Todd Chrisley added.
For those who disagree with Trump’s pardon of him, Todd Chrisley said the new reality series will back him up.
“Those are the people that have not dug into the case,” he told ABC News. “And you're gonna see this come out in these eight episodes. But at the end the day, I don't live my life for those people that think I'm guilty. I know what I’ve done.”
“The Chrisleys: Back to Reality” premieres Monday, Sept. 1 at 8 p.m. ET on Lifetime.
Plus, watch more of Juju Chang’s interview with the Chrisley family on "Nightline" on Sept. 2.
