Todd Chrisley has opened up about his very first night behind bars, saying he cried himself to sleep once reality had sunk in.
In ABC News Studios’ new special, “The Chrisleys: Life After Lockup,” the reality star detailed his experience in FPC Pensacola before he was ultimately pardoned by President Donald Trump.
“Todd, take us behind bars with you. What was that first night like?” host Juju Chang asked the “Chrisley Knows Best” alum.
“I was angry at God,” Todd, 57, replied. “And when I went to bed that night and the lights went out, I cried myself to sleep and I said, ‘God, why are you allowing this?'”
“You don’t realize the things that you took for granted until you don’t have it,” he went on. “So your freedom, your ability to go to church, your ability to go out to eat, you know, to stay in your bed all day, those things are taken from you, so when you have them back, it’s a blessing.”
Julie, for her part, was asked about the things she missed most while serving her sentence.
“My children and my husband, you know, I missed birthdays and holidays and graduations and things that I can never get back,” said Julie, 52.
“So now I just have to focus on what’s ahead of us,” she added.
Todd was last month freed from FPC Pensacola in Florida after serving just over two years of his 12-year sentence for tax evasion and fraud.
His wife Julie, for her part, was let out of FMC Lexington in Kentucky, where she had been serving out a seven-year prison term.
The reality stars first reported to prison in 2023 after being convicted of fraud and tax evasion.
Federal prosecutors found them guilty of faking documents to obtain over $30 million in loans, and then dumping them by declaring bankruptcy.
“You don’t realize how much your freedom means to you until you don’t have it,” Todd said during the interview.
“If it didn’t change you, then you’re not human,” he added.
“The Chrisleys: Life After Lockup” is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.