Todd and Julie Chrisley Open Up About Challenges of Life After Prison

After months behind bars, Todd and Julie Chrisley are free—but freedom, they reveal, hasn’t felt quite like the liberation many would expect.

Once reality TV royalty through their hit show Chrisley Knows Best, the couple’s world unraveled in 2022 when they were convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud. They were sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison.

But thanks to a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, they walked out of prison much sooner than expected—only to find themselves grappling with an entirely new challenge: reintegrating into the real world.

From Cameras to Concrete Walls: The Chrisleys’ Downfall and Release

In the latest episode of their podcast, Chrisley Confessions 2.0, the couple didn’t hold back about the emotional weight of adjusting to post-prison life. And if you think being back home is a sigh of relief—it’s not that simple.

“I’ve actually talked to a few of the women that I was in prison with that [are] already home,” Julie shared candidly. “And we all have this general consensus that—it’s kind of weird to even say it…”

But Todd jumped in without hesitation. “No, it’s not weird. Life is rougher than prison life,” he said. “I mean, that’s a sad thing to say because it is so horrific, the conditions that you’re there for, but that’s from a physical standpoint. From an emotional and psychological standpoint, it is harder dealing with day to day.”

That raw honesty sheds light on a truth rarely discussed: the outside world, with all its freedom, comes with mental burdens that prison life, in its predictability, didn’t prepare them for.

Prison Routines vs. Real-World Pressure

Julie elaborated on how time behind bars reshaped her mind. “There’s very little you can do because you’re in prison,” she said. “And people told me this when I first got there—you can’t live out there and in here at the same time because it’ll literally run you crazy. And the longer you’re there, the more removed you become to the world.”

She went further, revealing the emotional toll of family separation—and the chilling adaptability of the human mind. “The longer that people are away from their kids, as crazy as it sounds, because it’s a double-edged sword, the easier it becomes because you get into your own routine.”

It’s this slow drift from one reality to another that makes reintegration complicated.

Gratitude for the Pardon—But New Struggles Ahead

Still, there’s no denying that the presidential pardon changed the game. Unlike many others who serve their full sentence, the Chrisleys avoided the slow crawl of a halfway house or supervised probation.

Todd acknowledged just how significant that was: “We didn’t have to go to a halfway house. So, we don’t have to answer to a probation officer.”

“We’re not limited as to where we can go and how we can move,” he added. “So, I think we were thrown right back into the real world.”

And being thrown back in, without the buffer of transitional programs, has forced them to confront emotions many formerly incarcerated people are often too afraid to admit.

Their message is clear: life after prison isn’t just about freedom—it’s about relearning how to live. And for Todd and Julie Chrisley, that journey is only beginning.

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