For the love of God and gaudy: How the Chrisleys built, lost and could rebuild an empire in Trump’s America

In the final episode of their podcast before they reported to prisons hundreds of miles apart, married TV reality stars Julie and Todd Chrisley played a voice message from a listener named Angie. Angie said she was sorry about the verdict, was praying for the couple daily and was certain that “this test will become a testimony.” Julie Chrisley, who with her husband made their family D-list famous on a brand defined by spending and scripture, said she agreed, adding “I know for a fact that this is not the end for us.” “I know that beyond any doubt in my mind, I am very solid in my faith. I know where I stand,” she said in the episode released in January 2023. More than two years later, the Chrisleys are free thanks to a pardon from President Donald Trump, who knows a thing or two about honing a wealth-soaked image through reality television. The couple were convicted in 2022 of conspiracy to defraud banks out of more than $30 million in loans. The “Chrisley Knows Best” stars and their accountant, Peter Tarantino, were also convicted of several tax crimes. Now, as they are set to resume their lives after being incarcerated and maintaining their innocence, they might have another thing to learn from the man who set them free: How to make an unlikely comeback. But to understand where the Chrisleys might go from here, we have to understand how they got here. Showing up and out By the time the Chrisleys made it to the small screen via their reality series on the USA Network, they had already endured some challenges as a family. Todd and Julie Chrisley married in 1996, creating a blended family that consisted of two children from Todd Chrisley’s previous marriage, daughter Lindsie and son Kyle. Together, they had son Chase, who was born the year they married, daughter Savannah who arrived the following year and son Grayson who was born in 2006. In 2012, Julie Chrisley, the daughter of a Baptist minister, leaned into the strength of their family and faith after she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a double masectomy as part of the treatment. Six years later, she hailed her husband to The Tennessean for his unwavering support and shared a story of him gently undressing her in the shower to wash her hair and telling her how good she looked after her breasts had been removed. “He never flinched,” she said at the time. “I truly believe that moment took our relationship to a whole new level.” They came onto the public stage on March 11, 2014 when their reality series “Chrisley Knows Best” premiered on the USA Network. Viewers of that first episode were treated to scenes of the family’s affluent lifestyle in a gated community outside of Atlanta. Todd Chrisley bragged about the family spending more than $300,000 a year on their clothing (though prosecutors would later allege that the couple exaggerated their actual wealth). Though the family’s sometimes cartoonish antics mostly drove the series, the role that religion played in their lives was never avoided, with discussions about faith and the Bible sometimes incorporated into storylines. Things were not all always golden, however. As the show went on, it also featured the couple taking custody of their granddaughter Chloe as her father, Kyle Chrisley, struggled with substance abuse. In 2019, he posted on social media about the family situation. “I haven’t been the best dad to Chloe, I’ve had a problem with drugs, I’ve acted completely ridiculous and through all that, they have stood by my side,” he wrote. In an on-screen reunion in one season of the show, Kyle Chrisley meets with his father as he tries to mend trust he’s broken while struggling with addiction. The heavy conversation ends with Todd Chrisley open to the idea of his son coming back into the family’s life, as long as he takes frequent drug tests. He agrees before his dad attempts to lighten the mood. “Well, you look good…You can at least say ‘Daddy, I got that from you,.’” Todd Chrisley jokes. “Yeah, 100%. No Botox. Nothing here,” his son replies. His dad deadpans: “Well, now, don’t be throwing shade at Botox.” On screen, the family would also clash over Todd Chrisley’s at-times overbearing rules. He would tell his daughter how to dress and admitted at one point that he hired an IT company in able to monitor everything his children and his grandchildren did in the house. “Find your friends at school,” he famously said regarding his children. “I’m your daddy.” Amid it all, Todd Chrisley prided himself in being a fiercely protective father off screen, too. After then 19-year-old Savannah broke her vertebra after crashing her car into a guardrail, he denied speculation that she was texting and driving at the time of the crash, adding that he checked her phone record to confirm that. “Listen… we can’t control what people put in social media, we can’t control what people do in the press,” he said. “But you know, a tame story doesn’t sell papers.” Spinoffs and speculation The show’s popularity proved to be such that there were spinoffs and the scrutiny that comes with heightened popularity. “Growing Up Chrisley” premiered in 2019 and focused on siblings Chase and Savannah, but it ended in 2022 when “Chrisley Knows Best” was also canceled following Todd and Julie Chrisley’s convictions. Todd Chrisley also hosted a variety talk series called “According to Chrisley,” which featured individual family members and celebrity guests joining him, but only lasted a season before it was canceled. Julie Chrisley, too, got her time to shine, hosting minisodes of a cooking series called “What’s Cooking With Julie Chrisley” for USA Network’s digital platforms. Arguably one of their most successful side hustles as the couple’s podcast, “Chrisley Confessions” on iHeart Radio. It ran for more than 200 episodes before ending when they reported to prison. Savannah also has her own titled “Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley.” The podcast space has allowed the Chrisleys to open up about faith, family and rumors like they couldn’t in the structure of their reality program. In 2017, Todd Chrisley addressed speculation about his sexuality during a radio interview on “The Domenick Nati Show,” saying that he was “flattered that people think I can get laid on both ends.” “In order for it to disappoint me, it would mean that I don’t agree with someone being gay,” Chrisley said on the radio program, “I don’t believe that’s a choice that you make. I believe that you are the way that God has made you.” “And my wife certainly is flattered that as many men want her husband as there are women,” Chrisley added. “With that being said, I’m never going to have a drought.” Faith and family Though Todd Chrisley in particular had a penchant for witty comebacks, the couple’s federal trial was no laughing matter to the family. The government alleged that the Chrisleys had exaggerated their TV earnings to banks and borrowed more than $30 million that they were unable to pay back. The couple always maintained their innocence and spoke often of the faith they said was sustaining them, even after they were convicted. Todd and Julie Chrisley broke their silence on their podcast after their convictions with Todd Chrisley telling the audience, “I know all of you guys are wanting to know every detail that is going on in our lives, and I have to ask that you respect that we’re not allowed to talk about it at the present time. There will come a time to where all of it is discussed.” “We did want to come on today and let everyone know that it’s a very sad, heartbreaking time for our family right now,” he added. “But we still hold steadfast in our faith and we trust that God will do what he does best because God’s a miracle worker and that’s what we’re holding out for.” Their daughter Savannah took over the role of keeping their audience informed after Todd Chrisley began serving a 12-year sentence at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Pensacola, Florida, while Julie Chrisley was sentenced to seven years and was sent to the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Lexington in Lexington, Kentucky. She also became the caregiver of her younger brother Grayson and niece Chloe. “It’s tough when your norm is no longer your norm,” she said during an episode of her podcast in 2023. “What I’ve known for 25 years, my parents are gone and it’s tough. My dad is my absolute best friend and I don’t get to just pick up the phone and call him.” During a July 2023 episode of her “Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley” podcast, she and her brother Chase discussed what he called the “nightmare” conditions of their parents’ incarceration. “They both have no air conditioning,” he said. “They’re both in states where it gets to be 100+ degrees, and there’s no air conditioning.” Savannah Chrisley alleged that the facilities where her parents were serving their time had issues with asbestos, black mold and lead-based paint, though she expressed doubt that the general public would care. “I mean, Chase, it is prison so we’re not going to sit here and act like it should be the Four Seasons,” she said. “It’s prison, so people don’t have any sympathy for it.” A spokesperson for the the Bureau of Prisons told CNN in a statement at the time that they would not comment on “anecdotal allegations,” adding “for privacy, safety, and security reasons we do not comment on the conditions of confinement for any specific adult in custody (AIC) or group of AICs.” “We can assure you all AICs have unlimited access to drinking water and the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) is monitoring the ventilation at the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Pensacola and the Federal Medical Center (FMC) Lexington, as one of our highest priorities is the safety of BOP employees and AICs,” the statement read. “Every BOP facility, including FPC Pensacola and FMC Lexington, has contingency plans to address a large range of concerns or incidents, including ventilation temperatures, and is fully equipped and prepared to implement these plans as necessary.” Savannah Chrisley also turned to and was embraced by MAGA, President Trump’s devoted fan base, for support. She was a passionate orator as one of the speakers at the Republican National Convention held in 2024 in Milwaukee. “72600019, and 72601019. These may be just numbers to you, but to me, they’re my whole heart.,” she said. “These numbers are my parents’ identification numbers in our federal prison system. In her speech she attempted to tie their legal issues to those of then presidential candidate Trump, referencing “rogue prosecutors” she said targeted them because of their fame. “Due to our public profile and conservative beliefs, they accused my parents of fraud when really we were defrauded by a dishonest business partner who, and let’s not forget, the government gave full immunity to,” said Savannah Chrisley who also campaigned for Trump as of the “Team Trump’s Women Tour.” “We suffered warrantless rage and harassment, one of the officials even had my father’s face on a dart board in his office.” President Trump has consistently alleged that he has been unfairly targeted in legal action, including when he was found guilty of 34 charges of falsifying business records. He is the first convicted felon to be elected president of the United States. Trump seemed to allude to a shared sense of injustice when he made an Oval Office call to Savannah Chrisley to inform her he was pardoning her parents. “It’s a terrible thing,” Trump told Chrisley. “But it’s a great thing because your parents are going to be free and clean, and hopefully we can do it by tomorrow.” A new chapter The pardons for the Chrisleys and their release Wednesday come at a propitious time as it was recently announced that the family would be the subjects of a new reality series for Lifetime. The network’s press release stated that in the new series, “the Chrisleys don’t know best anymore, but they’re doing their best to be there for each other.” It was set to focus on Savannah’s life as caregiver to her siblings and her advocacy for her parents, as well as feature other extended cast members. The family’s life, the network teased, “is far different from what audiences have seen before.” A representative for Lifetime did not have additional information about the untitled project when reached by CNN on Wednesday. Savannah Chrisley had previously shared in 2023 that a new show was in the works and said her parents’ convictions would not “stop us from moving forward.” If there’s any crowd open to the idea of second chances, it’s likely the one that has championed the Chrisleys from the start. But who really knows best?