Life after Lockup: The reveal that Todd and Julie Chrisley are cast as Croissant on The Masked Singer may be a bit controversial, considering the reality TV couple was convicted of tax evasion and bank fraud and subsequently pardoned by President Trump. However, Todd told Variety that in the months since he and Julie were released from prison, he never had a bad experience in person.
Of course, it’s a little different online. “There are people on social media who say they used to love us and now President Trump has pardoned us,” he said. “Their issue is who pardoned us. It’s not that we were forgiven, it’s who pardoned us. So I would say to anyone who has a problem with that, if they were in our situation and President Trump could pardon them, they would be in line to get a pardon.”
Julie, who was convicted in November 2022 and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison (later commuted), said she hasn’t seen much repercussions because the couple has been transparent about what happened. The couple reported to prison in 2023.
“If we didn’t talk about this on ‘Chrisley Knows Best,’ it’s because it was a decision made by the network,” she said. “They weren’t going to dig deep into it. But we’ve never run away from what we went through, and it took a very long time to get to the other side. We just looked at it and said, “It’s our story. And we’re going to tell our story. There’s no one better suited to tell our story than us.”
Todd said he doesn’t respond to criticism unless it’s directed at him. “I live my life based on what I know is the right thing for me, my wife, my children and my mother. I try not to be rude. I try not to offend people,” he said. “But if you knock on my door and you come to my door with it, I have something waiting for you.”
In their request for clemency, the Chrisleys argued, without proof, that their convictions were the result of political persecution. Now, Todd Chrisley has softened his tone and said, “I don’t want my conversations to become political. I don’t want the movements I do to become politicized. I want the world to know that Julie and I and our family are the same today.” Our core values are still the same and intact. We are a family that loves people, and our love is not conditional on because we love this person, because we live this way, because we believe this.” We are very fortunate because most of the people sitting at our table have different political views. Yet, we still have dinner together here in Nashville and lean on each other when things happen and I feel like that’s what the world needs.
“You can sit down and say, ‘I hate President Trump,’ ‘I hate Joe Biden,’ ‘I hate Obama,’ ‘I hate Clinton.’ It’s like a football team. I love Clemson University. Julie and I grew up there, but my son is from Alabama. “We can’t pull for Clemson when Clemson is playing Alabama. Please understand that the team you root for is different. But please be respectful, be kind, and be generous.” “And I think the world would be a better place if we could all get to that place in life.”
On “The Masked Singer,” the Chrisleys performed “Jailhouse Rock” on last week’s episode, but the consensus was that it might have been a bit too much.
“We’ve been leaning into it ever since it happened, and we’re not running away from it,” Todd Chrisley said. “And it just felt right. It was like, ‘You’re not going to shove this over our heads, you’re not going to embarrass us with this.'” And that song made me feel good. I’ve always loved that song and felt it was a good fit. ”
Between the “Jailhouse Rock” and the clue package, it wasn’t hard to figure out it was the Chrisleys. In fact, panelist Jenny McCarthy Wahlberg immediately identified the Chrisleys.
“We told the guys at The Masked Singer that these clues say too much,” Todd said. “It’s too new. They’ll solve this problem soon. I’ve known Jenny for years, and I always felt like she would solve this problem.”
Chrisley’s daughter Savannah appeared on Season 11 of The Masked Singer as Afghan Hound, but Todd and Julie didn’t tell her she would be on the show. She figured it out anyway.
“The day I was on set, she texted me and said, ‘Are you doing The Masked Singer?’ And I said, ‘Why would you ask that?’ Then she called me and said, ‘Dad, someone on set texted me and said they met you and your mom.’ That’s when she realized. ”
Why “Masked Singer”? “I’m not going to lie, I was a little nervous,” Julie Chrisley said. “Todd is a good singer. He has a great voice. He had recorded a song with Sarah Evans before, so I knew he would be okay. It was completely out of my comfort zone, but I was excited to do it.”
Then came the costumes, and Croissant sealed the deal for both of them. “Savannah’s fiancé, Nick Cardiles, who died in a motorcycle accident, was French. We love him so much that it felt like a gesture from him,” Todd said. “I just looked at Julie and said, ‘I have to do the croissants.'”
The Chrisleys said they are working on five different series this year. In addition to Lifetime’s “The Chrisleys: Back to Reality,” Julie has a new cooking show and another show with Savannah, and Todd is said to be working on another project in the UK.
“I often say, so many people who have gone through what we went through, their whole world has been shattered. They have nothing left,” Todd said. “We’re lucky that that didn’t happen. We were able to go home, we were able to have a car, we were able to buy clothes, we were able to go out to have a nice dinner. And there’s a lot of people who can’t do that. So it was a very humbling season for our family. And , ended up exposing us to families that we probably would never have interacted with. And I look at that and think about where our lives are today and how blessed we’ve been since we got home, and I don’t take that for granted. ”
Watch as the Chrisleys are revealed on “The Masked Singer.”
