Skip to main content

Todd Chrisley is weighing in on the factors that made him and and his family household names. 

For nearly a decade, Todd and his family starred in the USA Network series Chrisley Knows Best. Beginning in 2014, the show, which ran for 10 seasons, followed the quirky, fun-loving family and their life in the suburbs of Atlanta. The network canceled the show after Todd and his wife Julie were convicted of tax and bank fraud in 2022.

Todd Chrisley says his family was relatable 

What made the Chrisleys such a good fit for reality TV? Todd says that despite their wealth, viewers related to the family’s dynamic. (In addition to Todd and Julie, Chrisley Knows Best featured their children, Lindsie Chrisley, Kyle Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, Chase Chrisley, Grayson Chrisley, and Chloe Chrisley, as well as Todd’s mother, Nanny Faye.)  

“I think for us, we’ve always tried to have a relatability factor. We wanted to tell the truth,” Todd said during a recent appearance on FOX News Media’s Hang Out with Sean Hannity podcast. 

“We wanted people to know, ‘This child is doing this,’ or, ‘This is how we solved this issue,’ or, ‘This is what we’re going through,’” Todd continued. “We always wanted to share that with our viewers. We’ve also always been very engaged with our audience, whether through social media, meeting people in public, or whatever the case may be. And honestly, we’ve never really had much negativity.”

The Chrisley family’s show had broad appeal, Todd added. 

“Our show brought the highest African-American viewership to USA Network in the history of the network, and it also brought the highest Hispanic viewership,” he told Hannity. 

“You know, I was made an honorary Latino by Telemundo,” Todd added. “When I asked why, they told me it was because of the family values.”

‘Chrisley Knows Best’ stars lived with federal investigation ‘hanging over our heads’ 

The Chrisley’s tight-knit dynamic and humorous antics made their show a hit. (It also spawned a spinoff, Growing Up Chrisley, that focused on Chase and Savannah.) But behind the scenes, Todd and Julie were also dealing with the stress of a federal investigation.

“We had lived with that forever. Since 2012, it was hanging over our heads,” Julie said. “It wasn’t just a possibility—it was always there. ‘You have to do this or they’re going to indict.’ Well, they ended up indicting anyway. Then it dragged on forever. 

“We were indicted in 2019, and we didn’t go to court until 2022,” she continued. “So all that time between the indictment and the trial was horrible, all while trying to raise children, do the show, and handle everything else that comes along with life.”

In 2022, Todd and Julie were both convicted of evading taxes and swindling banks out of millions through fraudulent loans. They began serving lengthy sentences in federal prison in early 2023. In May 2025, both were pardoned by President Donald Trump. Throughout, the couple have maintained their innocence and insisted that they were targets of a rogue prosecutor who wanted to take down a high-profile defendant. 

“We never want to be, we never strived to be, perfect,” Todd said. “We strived to have a good life and to do better in our life than what Julie and I grew up with. And we did that. And we had someone come in and look at our life and think, ‘That life looks too good and I don’t have it. So I’m going to do what I can to destroy it.’” 

For more​​ news and exclusive interviews, follow Showbiz Cheat Sheet’s Instagram. 

Best in News