Julie Chrisley: We Had to Parent Chloe Differently to Make Sure She ‘Knew She Was a Child of Color.’

Julie Chrisley is opening up about the responsibility she felt after adopting her daughter.

During the latest episode of Todd and Julie Chrisley’s Chrisley Confessions 2.0 podcast, the reality TV personalities talked about their time apart while they were serving prison sentences for their bank fraud and tax evasion convictions.

During the conversation, Julie, 52, and Todd, 56, opened up about some of the injustices they witnessed while in prison. The conversation prompted the mom of four to recall a conversation the pair had following the adoption of their daughter Chloe, 12, where they agreed they “had to be better” and expand their circle, so their daughter knew her heritage. Chloe, who is the biological daughter of Todd’s son Kyle and his ex Angela Johnson, was legally adopted in 2016, making Todd and Julie her legal parents and the youngest Chrisley sibling. The adoption came amid Kyle’s ongoing personal struggles.

“When we got Chloe … we had to be better,” Julie said. “We had to make sure that our circle expanded. We had to make sure that Chloe knew she was a child of color. We had to make sure she knew what she came from.”

In June 2022, Todd and Julie were convicted of bank fraud and tax evasion. A federal judge sentenced Todd to 12 years in prison and 16 months probation, while Julie received seven years in prison and 16 months probation. The couple reported to prison on Jan. 17, 2023, and roughly 28 months later, President Trump granted them a full pardon.

“For the past two and a half years, I’ve done everything in my power to fight for my parents’ freedom and bring them home,” their daughter Savannah Chrisley said in a statement. “This moment is the answer to countless prayers, and I am beyond grateful to President Trump for seeing the truth and restoring my family.”

After President Trump announced on Tuesday, May 27 that he was fully pardoning her parents, Savannah shared her younger sister Chloe’s reaction to finding out their parents were coming back.

“Chloe, I think, is still in shock,” Savannah shared while appearing on NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert. “She doesn’t want to get her hopes up, because she feels like something bad is going to happen. But I’m excited to be going to get my dad and bringing him home to her. We’re excited.”

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On the Tuesday, July 8, podcast episode of Unlocked, the Chrisley Knows Best matriarch, who is a mother to sons Grayson, 19, and Chase, 29, and daughters Chloe and Savannah, 27, candidly shared how hard it was being away from her children during her time in prison. She said she prides herself on “being a good mother” and “always being there for my children,” so her time away was “debilitating.”

“For me, that was one of the most difficult things about being in prison because I pride myself on being a good mother,” she said. “I pride myself in always being there for my children, and to have a time where I couldn’t be there was, at some point, debilitating.”

“Because I know that Grayson and Chloe, especially, but [also] you and Chase, even though you’re adults, you still need your parents,” she added. “And I think that’s what people need to realize. That when you’re being sentenced [by] these judges, it was very easy to say, ‘Oh, there’s lots of people that can help them raise their kids.’ No.”