LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of financial crimes and given a combined sentence of 19 years in jail in November 2022. Mid-January saw the commencement of Julie's seven-year imprisonment at the Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, and Todd's 12-year sentence in Florida's Federal Prison Camp Pensacola.
Needless to say, the incarceration has turned their family upside down, especially when it comes to their children, Savannah Chrisley and Chase Chrisley. Their daughter, Savannah, revealed on the newest edition of her podcast 'Unlock with Savannah Chrisley' that her mother, Julie, initially refused to marry Todd after becoming pregnant with the couple's oldest child, Chase, 27. However, they tied the knot when Julie was nine months pregnant with Chase on May 25, 1996. Notably, Todd was previously married to Tessa Terry, who he had known since high school, and the couple had two children before formally divorcing in 1996. So it was understandable why Julie may have been hesitant to marry Todd at that time.
'My dad had just come off a divorce, he had two kids'
Savannah later goes on in the podcast and reveals how her mother initially played hard and how Todd did not give up. The couple's daughter said, "I think of my mom was in her early 20s when she got pregnant with Chase, so my older brother, who's 14 months older than me," adding, "My dad had just come off a divorce, he had two kids, and my mom was the preacher's daughter in a small, one-stoplight town in South Carolina. Everyone knew everyone."
She stated that her mother was hesitant to marry Todd after his divorce from ex-wife Teresa Terry, with whom he has a daughter Lindsie Chrisley and a son Kyle Chrisley. Savannah explained, "She got pregnant, and she told my dad, she was like, 'I am not marrying you. This is my baby. I'm gonna raise my baby. If you want to be involved in his life you can, but I'm raising my child."
Todd Chrisley is writing about his relationship with Julie Chrisley in his book
Savannah noted that from the beginning of the couple's relationship, her mother, Julie was difficult to get. She said that when she read some passages in the book he was writing, she started crying while sharing, "He talks about the first time he saw my mother, how he felt, how he would just go into the bank just to be able to see her, and she wouldn't give him the time of day." She continued, "She told him, she was like, 'I'm not marrying you, just for you to make the same mistake you made with your first wife. He asked her twice, and she told him no. And now, look at them, 27 years later." The couple's daughter explained that her mother's reluctance resulted from her becoming pregnant "out of wedlock" after coming from a small village where her father was the preacher.
'And I say the thought of marriage scares me more than kids'
The reality star previously said on an episode of her podcast that she had her own reservations about getting married. Savannah stated, "It's so hard because in the south, too, you experience this like [perspective of], 'You should be married. You should have kids," adding, "And I say the thought of marriage scares me more than kids. With marriage, it's kind of like you're giving over a part of yourself to someone, so they have the ability to hurt you. It's a weird thing I'm still trying to figure out in my mind."
