Todd Chrisley is reflecting on the most difficult time in his and wife Julie Chrisley’s life — and it wasn’t when they were both incarcerated.
“I had someone ask me while in prison — he’s an attorney — he said, ‘This has to be the darkest day of your life,” Todd, 56, said on the Wednesday, July 30, episode of the “Chrisley Confessions 2.0” podcast. “And I said, ‘No, it’s not.’”
Todd noted that the man is a “huge attorney” who is “very wealthy” and appeared surprised by his remark.
“I said, ‘The darkest day of my life was when Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer.’ Not the death of my father. It was that day,” Todd explained. “When you talk about PTSD, people getting help for it, you and I both know that I have that because of that moment in our life. That still is the heaviest situation I’ve ever dealt with and the most feared issue that I’ve ever dealt with.”
Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley’s Relationship Timeline
He continued, “I would take 28 months at FPC Pensacola any day of the week over that fear. Because at FPC Pensacola, I had an exit date. But with that diagnosis of breast cancer, I had to live every day wondering when your exit date was.”
Todd noted that there was “a lot” of detachment between him and Julie, now 52, at that time. (Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2012 and underwent a double mastectomy.)
“I will never forget, you said, ‘I’m here. I’m going to be fine.’ It wasn’t until we had that breakthrough moment for me — and I still struggle with it to this day — but that was a breakthrough moment for me,” Todd said. “So prison wasn’t the darkest day of my life. Cancer was the darkest day of my life. Losing my dad was a dark day, not compared to you. Losing my dad was worse than me going for 28 months to prison.”
Todd explained that he was recently asked by a reporter what he would “change” about his life, to which he replied that he wanted to alter Julie’s diagnosis.
Why Todd and Julie Chrisley’s Life Is ‘Rougher’ Than Their Time in Prison
After the interaction, Todd claimed one of the couple’s children asked him why he didn’t mention prison. (Todd and Julie share son Chase, 29, daughter Savannah, 27 and son Grayson, 19. Todd is also dad to daughter Lindsie, 35, and son Kyle, 33, whom he shares with ex-wife Teresa Terry. The pair also adopted Chloe, 12, from Kyle in 2016.)
“That kid looked at me and said to me later, ‘Dude, you should have said you would have not been to prison.’ I said, ‘But it wasn’t.’ Because with cancer, I was already imprisoned. In my mind, I had already been placed in prison of, ‘When are you going to strike next and what form will you strike next?’”
While Todd noted that he and Julie were physically separated for 28 months, he explained that he “never left” her side “spiritually and mentally.”
“In my mind, mentally and emotionally, I was filming in another location,” Todd quipped of his prison experience. “I was shooting a movie. I was on location for a movie. Now, it was a s****y movie and I am going to do a movie about this experience. But that wasn’t my worst experience, because how could you say that was your worst experience when you come out and I have at least 75 relationships that I’ve made with men from all age groups that have made me a better human being.”
The pair were convicted on charges including tax evasion and bank and wire fraud in 2022. Todd and Julie, who have maintained their innocence, were sentenced to 12 and seven years in prison, respectively. The couple were released in May after receiving pardons from President Donald Trump.
