Celebrity News August 23, 2023
Chase Chrisley on Parents’ ‘Awful’ Prison Conditions & His Broken Engagement (Exclusive)
“Chrisley Knows Best” stars Todd and Julie Chrisley are currently behind bars for tax evasion and fraud, and their kids Chase and Savannah are carrying on the drama in an upcoming untitled series.
Chase speaks to “Extra’s” Rachel Lindsay about why they wanted to do the show and shares details about his parents’ “awful” conditions in prison.
Rachel asked, “How has your family life changed since your parents were sent away?”
He replied, “We’ve definitely got a lot closer. When you get hit with something like this, I feel like a lot of people either separate and go their own ways or they cling together, which is how we were raised. We’ve clung together and we’re still fighting.”
The new series will expose it all. Chase said, “What we’re not going to do is lay down and back down to anybody and we will air it out.”
He added, “With everything that we’ve been going through, there’s been a lot of people that have been talking and kind of trying to tell our story for us, so we were like we might as well get out there and tell it ourselves."
The reality star went on, “We'll address everything that we're going through on a day to day basis with our new reality. Updates on my parents and our family situation and just kind of trying to navigate the waters of that.”
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View StoryHis parents, who are appealing their sentences, haven’t been able to talk to each other in days. Todd is in prison in Florida, while Julie is in Kentucky.
Chase said, “It’s over 200 now, which is really tough for them because my mom and dad are obsessed with each other.”
He explained, “They’re hanging in there. It’s a terrible situation. The conditions are awful and if you read all these headlines they say the polar opposite, but it is not the truth and we’re going to be spreading a lot of awareness to that as well.”
Rachel asked what the public is getting wrong, and Chase shared, “Everyone has this perception that my parents are in this country club prison and that’s just not the case at all. My mom’s sitting up there with no air, and my dad’s facility has no air.”
He continued, “They both have black mold, lead-based paint, the roof is falling in on both facilities. So it’s just, it’s just a lie.”
The unscripted show might actually show visits to the prisons or phone calls with Todd and Julie.
“There definitely will be times we'll be on phone calls and going to visit and stuff like that,” he told Rachel.
As for being nervous about speaking out, he said, “No, we’re not, I’m sure you’re aware no one in the my family has a filter so we could really give a s—t less what anybody has to say or think. We have a broken system, we know that. This is just our turn to actually experience it firsthand. We’re going to continue to fight and that’s a part of the show, is bringing the truth out there and airing it out.”
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View StoryLindsay wondered, “Do you think your parents would have gone to prison if they weren’t famous?
He answered, “No, I don’t, I really don’t. We were a big fish for them and we were used to further someone’s personal agenda. It’s really awful that we live in a society where that can even happen. We’re not the first people this has happened to and we won’t be the last.”
Rachel asked, “Is there anything you’re nervous about?” Chase replied, “I could give a s—t less. I don’t care at all.”
He also revealed who will be on the show, saying, “It’s really Chloe, Savannah, Grayson, my grandmother, my other grandparents will probably make an appearance and then just our close group of friends.”
The star joked, “Our circle is closed now. We’re not letting nobody else in!”
He also had a message for anyone questioning why they are doing another show.
“The public is involved regardless in what we do," Chase said. "From our perspective, we would way rather be able to tell our own truth than have somebody out here making money off of lies that they’re spreading about myself and my family,” he said. “But honestly, I think our message from the first show to this show as a family has never changed. We want to give people hope. We want to show people that terrible things happen. But if you can stick together, lean on your faith, lean on each other, then you can get through it. And that's exactly what we're doing.”
Chase also opened up about why he’s “thankful” for his recent broken engagement with Emmy Medders.
Explaining why they called things off, he said, “Everything happens for a reason. God’s got a plan. And I think God heard conversations that I didn’t hear. He saw things I didn’t see and moved her on her way and I could not be more thankful.”
In fact, Chase is dating again. “I am back dating, yeah. I’ve already been on dates. I’m ready to go!”