Chloe Chrisley wasn’t officially adopted by Todd and Julie Chrisley until just before they left for prison, the family’s new docuseries reveals.
“The adoption was actually never made final until maybe a month or two before mom and dad left,” Savannah Chrisley revealed during the premiere episode of The Chrisleys: Back to Reality on Monday, September 1.
Chloe, now 13, is the biological daughter of Todd’s eldest son, Kyle Chrisley, and his ex Angela Johnson.
“Once we found out that she even existed, of course we wanted to be a part of her life,” Julie, 52, said in the docuseries from prison.
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Chrisley family friend Bill Rawlings explained that Kyle, now 34, was “not in a position to be a dad.” Savannah, meanwhile, recalled how Chloe joined their family.
“Her mother let us have her every other weekend. And then, every other weekend turned into every other week,” she said. “I’ll never forget her calling my parents one day, saying, ‘I need you to come get Chloe. We don’t have anywhere to stay and I can’t have her sleep in the car.’ She signed over custody completely.”
According to Savannah, Todd “never terminated” Kyle’s parental rights at first because he felt like “that’s my son’s daughter,” but he and Julie didn’t have a choice before they went to prison.
“My dad could never bring himself to do it and to terminate their rights, but they had to do that to make sure that when they left, that Kyle or Angela couldn’t come back and get her,” Savannah explained. “Obviously, I was going to be left — she was going to be left in my care.”
While Todd and Julie were in prison, Savannah became the legal guardian of her brother Grayson, now 19, as well as Chloe.
“Savannah was forced to take on a lot when Todd and I left for prison. Taking on Grayson and Chloe and the financial burden,” Julie said in a call from prison. “It was something she shouldn’t have had to do. But I’m so grateful that she was willing to do it and I’m so grateful that she did an amazing job at it.”
The couple was incarcerated for 28 months after being convicted on tax evasion and bank and wire fraud charges in 2022. They were pardoned by President Donald Trump and released in May.
Lifetime’s docuseries about the family offered some insight into Savannah and Chloe’s dynamic at home.
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“You’re a teenage girl and your room is a mess,” Savannah told Chloe while doing her hair in one scene. “Your attitude is not very becoming.”
Chloe noted that she couldn’t “act like life is normal” with cameras in her face — and when Todd and Julie were gone.
“We have to make the best out of a really crappy situation, OK?” Savannah said. “And your hair is a mess.”
The Chrisleys: Back to Reality two-night premiere continues on Tuesday, September 2, with two-hour episodes airing on Lifetime at 8 p.m. ET. Another two episodes will air back-to-back on September 9, with the finale airing September 16.
