Julie Chrisley’s prison stay didn’t stop her from sharing thoughts about son Chase Chrisley proposing to his girlfriend, Jodi Laine Fournerat.
“Just because I am in prison does not mean that my job as a mother stops,” Julie, 52, said in a phone call included in the fourth episode of The Chrisleys: Back to Reality, which premiered on Tuesday, September 2. “Yes, it is very much limited as to what I can do. But I am still, at my core, a mother to these children.”
Julie detailed a “very hard” conversation she had with 29-year-old son Chase when he went to visit her. (Julie and husband Todd Chrisley were incarcerated for 28 months before being released from prison in May following a pardon from President Donald Trump.)
“When he told me that he wanted to marry Jodi, I was not thrilled,” she admitted. “I don’t know her. So, I can’t be on board with my son marrying someone that I don’t even know.”
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Chase took his relationship with Jodi public in November 2023, and the pair have been going strong ever since. Jodi briefly appeared alongside Chase on his family’s Lifetime docuseries, which premiered on Monday, September 1. (Chase was previously engaged to Emmy Medders, but they split in July 2023.)
“I went to go visit my mom to break the news to her that I’m going to be proposing to Jodi,” Chase told viewers in his confessional. “My mom doesn’t want me to rush anything. She wants me to take my time, but it’s been over two years. So, I don’t feel like I’m rushing anything.”
Chase also understood Julie’s perspective because she’s “not here to be a part of” his life.
“I think a lot of it’s coming from that, my mom doesn’t want to miss out on it,” he added. “But there’s nothing we can do about it right now.”
During a scene filmed at dinner with Julie’s parents, Pam and Harvey Hughes, Chase offered more insight into what went down with his mom.
“She and I had an intense conversation. I don’t think it was an argument,” Chase said, turning to Jodi. “She doesn’t know you. She hasn’t gotten the opportunity to know you because she’s sitting in prison.”
Chase explained that he told his mom: “At the end of the day, this is the person I’ve chosen to be my wife and eventually the mother of my children.”
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Chase said that he wants Julie to have a “good relationship” with Jodi.
“She was like, ‘When I get out of here, I’m looking forward to meeting her and it’s not like I’m not going to give her a chance,’” Chase recalled to Jodi. “We’ve been together for two years. At the end of the day, I’m not going to let anybody — not my family, not a stranger on the street — make you uncomfortable or disrespect you.”
Jodi felt like she didn’t “have a fair shot” with the family because of their legal situation.
“My parents have really never given anyone a fair shot, of any girl I’ve ever dated,” Chase added. “It took me as long as it did to pull it together and I’m ashamed of that, but there’s nothing I can do about it now other than try to be the best version of myself every day and continue to grow as a man.”
The Chrisleys: Back to Reality continues on Lifetime Tuesday, September 9, at 8 p.m. ET with another two back-to-back episodes. The finale airs September 16.
