“Was it weird? Was it awkward? What’s next for the Chrisley family?”
Those are the questions people have asked Julie Chrisley about reuniting with her husband Todd Chrisley weeks after their prison release. The reality TV stars answered them − for a national audience.
Lara Trump, daughter-in-law of President Donald Trump, sat down with the Chrisleys at their home in Nashville, Tennessee, for an episode of her Fox News show, “My View with Lara Trump.” It was their first return to TV since they were convicted in 2022 and imprisoned in 2023.
For years, Todd and Julie Chrisley portrayed themselves as real estate tycoons on the USA Network series “Chrisley Knows Best,” which documented the Chrisleys’ lavish lifestyle in Atlanta and Nashville. The show drew in more than 2 million viewers by its eighth season and inspired spinoffs such as “Growing Up Chrisley” and “According to Chrisley.”
However, their image as savvy real estate tycoons was sullied in June 2022, when the pair was found guilty of tax evasion and defrauding community banks out of more than $30 million in fraudulent loans.
On May 28, 2025, Donald Trump, a former reality TV star himself, issued a full pardon for Todd and Julie Chrisley. The couple exited their respective prisons the next day.
Todd Chrisley had originally received a 12-year sentence, with seven years for Julie Chrisley. Todd Chrisley was released from a federal prison in Pensacola, and Julie Chrisley was released an hour later from federal custody in Lexington, Kentucky.
Lara Trump, who’s married to Eric Trump, traveled to Nashville on June 23 to film with the “According to Chrisley” stars. For the segment, Lara Trump also interviewed the couple’s children, Savannah Chrisley and Grayson Chrisley. It was a reunion for Savannah Chrisley, who had appeared on Lara Trump’s show about two weeks before her parents’ pardon.
The Chrisley episode of “My View with Lara Trump” aired June 28, 2025, on Fox News Channel. Below is more information about their interview.
Who are Todd and Julie Chrisley? Why were they in prison?
Todd and Julie Chrisley starred on USA Network’s hit docuseries “Chrisley Knows Best.” The reality TV couple were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud in June 2022 and turned themselves in to their respective prisons in January 2023. In May 2025, the couple was issued a full pardon by President Donald Trump.
In a June 28, 2025, interview with his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, the Chrisleys talked about reuniting and their upcoming plans.
Lara Trump: “I think a lot of people wonder, what was that first night like for each of you to be in prison? I mean, to know all that had happened and then this was your future for seven and 10 years.”
Todd Chrisley: “Right, yes. I remember going in and that night I was so angry with God and that night when the lights went out, I literally cried myself to sleep because it’s the first time Julie and I had ever been away from each other since we had been married. I’d never not been in that house when my kids woke up in the morning or when they went to bed at night.
“And I just said, ‘God, why? I’ve tried to be a loyal and faithful servant. Why are you allowing this to happen?’
“You know these things are not true. And in my dream, God came to me and he said that, ‘I have planted you where I need you and when you leave, they will rise.’ I look back on that dream now and I now understand when he said, ‘When you leave, they will rise,’ because they’re rising through President Trump.
“So I am grateful for that. Even though it’s been hard and I have missed Julie every breath that I took and missed my children, I could at least talk to them. But when you’re in prison and your spouse is in prison, you’re not allowed to talk.”
Lara Trump: “How long did you two go without speaking?”
Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley (simultaneously): “28 months.”
Lara Trump: “Tell me about the first time you saw each other.”
Julie Chrisley: “It was surreal, but people have asked, was it weird, was it awkward? It really wasn’t.”
Todd Chrisley: “So I think for me, I was never away from her because she was in my spirit the entire time. I thought of her every second of my day. And so when I hugged her the first time, it was like I was home in my heart spiritually.
“We have changed. And if we did not change in these 28 months, it would have been wasted.”
Lara Trump: “You know, you guys have done a lot. You’ve been through a lot. What is next for the Chrisley family?”
Todd Chrisley: “We’re coming back to television.”
Lara Trump: “OK.”
Todd Chrisley: “It’s amazing that those that walked away from you are the first ones knocking at the door again. So we’re coming back to television, and I think that we’re heading back home. We’re heading back to South Carolina where we came from, and we’re going to open a hotel there, and we’re going to create a show around it, and we’re going to hopefully be grandparents at some point.”
Sangalang is a lead digital producer for USA TODAY Network. Follow her on Twitter or Instagram at @byjensangalang. Support local journalism. Consider subscribing to a Florida newspaper.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Up next for Todd and Julie Chrisley? Opening a hotel, filming new reality TV series about it
Reporting by Jennifer Sangalang, USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
