Tragic Details About Julie Chrisley

Despite the glamor, privilege, and wealth that presumably go with being the wife of a successful Georgia real estate tycoon and reality star, Julie Chrisley's life has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows. On the surface, the "Chrisley Knows Best" cast member appears to have it all: a picture-perfect house, a devoted husband, a luxurious lifestyle, and a loving, charismatic family. But beneath that veneer of opulence were some not-so-pretty personal and business issues that led to seriously detrimental consequences.

While all of her struggles haven't been as extreme as going to prison, Julie Chrisley's life has run the gamut of heartache, betrayal, and personal tragedy. With the added burden of a tarnished reputation and the financial burden of legal fees, restitution, and unpaid taxes, the hardships continue to challenge the Chrisleys, despite their unexpected pardon by Trump in May 2025, which led to their early release from federal prison.

Julie and her husband have established plans to capitalize on their experiences in a tell-all spin-off of their original show called "The Chrisleys: Back To Reality," which will highlight Julie and Todd Chrisley's reclamation to life outside of prison, rebuilding their brand, and sharing their story.

Long before she became a public figure, Julie Chrisley went through a difficult period that, unfortunately, many people can relate to on some level. When she was a kid, her family up and moved from their home state to another, and the transition was anything but easy. 

On a May 2025 episode of the "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley" podcast, Savannah Chrisley, daughter of Julie and Todd Chrisley, spoke with someone who had a front-row seat to Julie's childhood. Julie's mom, Pam Hughes, reflected on what it was like raising the future reality star. Hughes told Savannah that when the family relocated to Kansas City, Missouri, from South Carolina, it didn't go well for Julie, who was 13 at the time of the move. Julie struggled with adjusting to her new town, and she was teased for her Southern vernacular. After recognizing that their daughter was miserable in Missouri, the Hugheses ultimately decided to allow Julie to move back to North Carolina to live with her grandmother for a few months until the rest of the family moved back a few months later.

The family eventually moved again the following year, this time to North Carolina. The family ultimately decided to return to South Carolina for good by the time Julie turned 15, so she was able to attend high school in one place without having to uproot her life and build new friendships through those challenging and formative years.

It might be difficult to imagine Julie Chrisley being married to anyone other than Todd Chrisley, but the truth is that this is her second marriage. (This is also Todd's second marriage; he and his high school sweetheart, Teresa Terry, split in 1994 and divorced in 1996.) In 1991, Julie married her first husband, Kenneth Wayne Childress, in a ceremony that took place in Oconee County, South Carolina. Childress was 24 at the time of the wedding, while Julie was only 18. Despite the questionable age gap, the pair dated while Julie was still in high school and got married after her graduation.

The date and reason for the couple's divorce are unknown. The pair didn't share any children, and while we don't have a divorce date, we can deduce that the union officially ended before Julie's marriage to Todd Chrisley happened in 1996. Childress died in 2012 after suffering complications following a heart surgery.

Julie and Todd's nuptials occurred a mere month after Todd's divorce from his first wife was finalized. According to an interview with RadarOnline, Julie's ex-sister-in-law, Kellie Adair, claimed that Julie was still married to Childress when she struck up a relationship with Todd. What's more, Terry claimed to RadarOnline that Todd cheated on her with Julie. Todd has denied Terry's claims. 

In 2012, at the behest of her husband, Todd Chrisley, Julie Chrisley went in for a mammogram that would save her life. As Julie shared with The Tennessean (via People), after two of her friends received their diagnoses, Todd urged Julie to get checked. Julie admitted that she only went to get the mammogram because of Todd's pestering, but the results proved that even though she had no family history of breast cancer, the tragic reality is that it can happen to anyone. Julie's treatment included a double mastectomy and eventually reconstructive surgery. "I had to do whatever I had to do to be around for my kids," she told the outlet. 

The healing process was a profound and powerful experience for both Julie and Todd, as he offered steadfast support in the face of his wife's intense physical change and hardship. Julie shared an emotional story detailing how Todd helped her clean her scars after the surgery. "I truly believe that that moment took our relationship to a whole other level because he never flinched ... He was in the shower with me, he took all of my bandages off, and he never flinched," Julie said in the aforementioned interview. Because she had lost her breast tissue due to the double mastectomy, she got breast implants some weeks later.

In 2019, Julie and Todd Chrisley were indicted on 12 counts of tax fraud, bank and wire fraud, and conspiracy. The list of crimes ranged from falsifying financial documents to borrow millions of dollars from banks to fund their luxurious lifestyle and pay off previous loans, hiding money from the IRS by utilizing a shell production company to hide their TV checks, and evading millions of dollars in state taxes. Julie, specifically, was also charged with wire fraud and obstruction of justice at that time.

Despite the damning evidence provided to the jury during the Chrisleys' federal trial in 2022, they pleaded not guilty, and blamed former employee Mark Braddock for committing the fraud in their names without their knowledge to get revenge on the couple after being fired. Braddock did participate in an instance of fraud while employed by the Chrisleys, and he admitted to his part in the crimes and offered evidence of his and the Chrisleys' wrongdoings in exchange for immunity. However, the Chrisleys' wrongdoings apparently didn't stop after Maddock left their lives.

The trial resulted in Julie being sentenced to seven years in prison plus 16 months of probation. Todd was sentenced to 12 years with the same probation time. After an appeal to the courts, the sentence was reduced, and the Chrisleys were ultimately pardoned by Trump in May 2025.

Julie Chrisley has said that she had some serious health concerns while serving time at Federal Medical Center. On a July 2024 episode of "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley," Savannah Chrisley detailed the conditions of the women's federal correctional facility in Kentucky where her mom was locked up, stating that there was no air conditioning available to the inmates anywhere but the visitation area, "​She literally said that she got physically sick because she got so hot," Savannah said. "So you have these women who are suffering from heat exhaustion and they're passing out, but yet, you know, there are service dogs that have air conditioning ... none of it makes sense to me. It is so beyond inhumane that you cannot even make it up."

Savannah also shared letters her mother sent her from prison on the podcast. In one of the letters, Julie stated that she feared she might have a tumor, but she didn't have enough information to know exactly what was going on with her health. Julie wrote, "I literally fell apart. How can this be happening? I'm going to have blood work redone and get a scan. I've not told anyone and I'm not going to until I know what's going on. I'm so scared. I just want my husband. I don't know if I can do this without him."

In her letters to Savannah Chrisley, Julie Chrisley wrote about missing her children, who she was able to write letters to and occasionally see during visits, and her husband, who she was not able to consistently communicate with except through delayed emails. On a February 2024 episode of "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley," Savannah shared the note her mom wrote about what it was like first arriving at the prison, and the realization that she was going to be away from her family for a significant amount of time. "The man I had lived with, raised a family with, and loved more than life itself is now temporarily residing in Florida, and me in Kentucky," Julie wrote. "I could not wrap my head around the fact that I was going to be separated from my husband and children for what seems like a lifetime." 

After Julie and her husband were released, they reflected on their time behind bars and the surprising ways their perspectives shifted during that period. "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," she said on a July 2025 episode of "Chrisley Confessions 2.0." "It doesn't mean you don't miss them, you don't love 'em, all that but just from me being in prison, I had to just watch out for me ... I had to take care of me. I had to make sure that I was good, as good as I could be."

On another episode of "Chrisley Confessions 2.0" that was released in July 2025, Julie and Todd Chrisley addressed questions about their prison experiences and the long-term effects on their mental, emotional, and physical wellness. The topic of the treatment of inmates in federal correctional facilities came up in their conversation. According to Todd, one of his fellow inmates at FPC Pensacola developed a harmful lung condition after being exposed to mold and harmful cleaning chemicals. 

Julie also maintains that she's suffered from similar issues since her stint at FMC Lexington, alleging the facility has a mold and asbestos problem. "I have a lung condition from being in prison," she said. "You will probably notice me, at certain times, trying to get a breath." Her husband added that she would soon see a pulmonary specialist so they can get to the bottom of her health issues. In a separate interview with ABC News, Julie said she believes she developed with asthma while incarcerated. "I could see my health deteriorating," she said.

As of this writing, Julie has not announced a formal diagnosis. In response to these allegations, FMC Lexington, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said in a statement (via Us Weekly), "We take seriously our duty to protect the individuals entrusted in our custody. As well as maintaining the safety of our employees and the community. Human treatment of men and women is our top priority."

Julie and Todd Chrisley spent nearly two years serving time in different federal prisons and were only able to communicate through delayed emails — not even phone calls were allowed. During this period, rumors began to circulate regarding the state of their marriage.

On a July 2025 episode of "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley," Julie addressed the speculation about whether or not she and her husband were headed to divorce. She stated that she and Todd were not having marital issues and maintained that their emotional connection remained strong despite the fact that they could not see or speak to each other for extended periods of time. On the same episode of the podcast, Todd expressed a similar sentiment: "In my mind, I was never away from [Julie], and I would tell her in the emails every day ... I said, 'I'm with you every step you take and feel my love surrounding you at all times.' When I went to bed at night, she was right there with me. When I woke up and I did my prayers, she was right there with me," he said.

In the letters she wrote to Savannah Chrisley while in prison, Julie specifically mentioned how deeply she missed Todd. When they were eventually reunited, the pair fell back into their routine with an added appreciation for the presence of the other.

Julie Chrisley's relationship with her adopted daughter, Lindsie Chrisley, is regrettably complicated. Lindsie and her brother, Kyke Chrisley, are products of Todd Chrisley's first marriage to Teresa Terry, and Julie legally adopted Lindsie during her teenage years. However, their relationship hasn't been particularly close. Lindsie elaborated on this distance on a 2023 episode of her podcast "Coffee Convos." "It doesn't mean that I didn't love [Julie]. And I said on a previous episode, she could have hung the moon, but she still wasn't my mother," she said.

Lindsie decided to distance herself from her father, adopted mother, and half-siblings when she decided to no longer participate in the filming of "Chrisley Knows Best'" in 2017. Todd Chrisley has claimed that Lindsie is actually jealousy of her other siblings and resents her lack of screentime on the show, though she has denied these claims. According to Lindsie, she parted ways with the hit reality show because she would have to drive from Georgia to Tennessee for filming, and she found that the Chrisley household was not a great environment for her son.

Julie's relationship was strained further when she and her husband accused Lindsie of revealing their tax evasion to the federal government. Lindsie asserted that she was not the one who tipped off the IRS, though she was involved in the investigation and the subsequent trial.

After spending nearly two years of her life in federal prison, Julie Chrisley and her husband, Todd Chrisley, received a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. The couple is understandably grateful to no longer be incarcerated, but they have also brought attention to how tough it has been to get back to their "normal" life.

On an aforementioned episode of "Chrisley Confessions 2.0," Julie and Todd went so far as to claim that, in some ways, the world outside can actually seem more difficult than life behind bars, partly due to the structure, rules, and limitations of prison. "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. ... When I first got home, it was really hard. Like, emotionally, it was a lot."

After their release, Julie and her husband moved in with their daughter Savannah Chrisley, and apparently, this living arrangement has had its ups and downs. As Savannah said on an August 2025 episode of "Unlocked with Savannah Chrisley," "It's a challenge, especially to all of us being under one roof ... It's great. I love it. I would have begged for this a year ago, but it's a lot. It's a lot."