USA Network’s reality sensation Chrisley Knows Best depicted the supposedly perfect, happy lives of a big blended family. The incarceration of Todd and Julie Chrisley on bank fraud and tax evasion charges in 2023, the arrest of Chase Chrisley in January, and other assorted scandals have seriously transformed the family’s cheery public image. But Lifetime’s new series, The Chrisleys: Back to Reality delves into yet another dark corner of Chrisley lore: the bitter falling out between Lindsie Chrisley and the rest of the family.
“I still don’t know how to put into words the betrayal that we have experienced,” patriarch Todd said in a phone call from prison at the beginning of Back to Reality‘s third episode, which aired Tuesday. “God is saying to you, ‘Forgive those who trespass against you, lift your brother and sister up.’ And I struggle with that every day.”
Lindsie is Todd’s daughter with ex Teresa Terry, along with brother Kyle, while their half-siblings Savannah, Chase, and Grayson are Todd’s children with Julie Chrisley, one of the centerpieces of the Chrisley media universe. Kyle only regularly appeared on the first season of Chrisley Knows Best, but Lindsie was a staple of the first five seasons.
“I know for a fact there was resentment that my parents were together and we had our nuclear family, and they just didn’t feel like they were a part of it,” Savannah said of Lindsie and Kyle. Creeping resentment eventually morphed into full-on bad blood, when it was revealed that Lindsie cooperated in the FBI’s investigation into Todd and Julie. Savannah said she “will never forget seeing my dad’s face” when the family learned at Todd and Julie’s sentencing hearing just how involved Lindsie was.
“My dad broke,” she said.
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“Growing up the way we grew up with a blended family, unfortunately, we were not this perfect, kumbaya, like, no,” Savannah shared. According to Todd and Julie’s eldest, Lindsie was however “the perfect child” growing up, and though she “started acting out” in her teens, the real turning point came during the filming of Chrisley Knows Best season 5.
Savannah claimed that one day, Lindsie sought out Chloe Chrisley, Kyle’s daughter whom Todd and Julie legally adopted in 2016, to collaborate on a social media post, despite their parents’ wishes. “Lindsie just started going absolutely insane – yelling, screaming, calling my mom every name under the sun… At that point, that’s when Lindsie’s time on the show came to an end.”
From 2018 onward, the relationship between the core Chrisley family and Kyle and Lindsie strained to the point of breaking. Meanwhile, the state of Tennessee had been building a financial crimes case against Todd and Julie that was eventually transferred to the jurisdiction of the FBI. The “seed” of that case, according to Savannah, was “planted” by Todd’s former partner in his real estate business, Mark Braddock, who allegedly grew vengeful toward the family after Todd let him go in 2012.
Charges of bank fraud and tax evasion were formally brought against Todd and Julie in 2019. That news rocked the family hard, but it would prove to only be the first domino in a long, dramatic chain soon to topple over.
Lindsie appeared on an episode of Dr. Phil in Oct. 2019, just months after Todd and Julie’s indictment. During the interview, Lindsie gave her side of the Chloe altercation story, in which she alleged that Julie “shoved me at my neck,” which is what really severed the relationship. She also claimed that Todd accused her of having an affair with a tax official, and denied incendiary allegations that she had secretly been in communication with Braddock for a year and a half regarding the case against her father and stepmother.
Looking back at the interview, Todd remarked in a phone call from prison, “We never talked to her again, after that incident. After that, we had no more involvement with her until after the indictment.” Savannah shared. “In my opinion, she was hell bent on bringing it all down. And boy did she succeed – or at least, she thinks she did.”
Todd and Julie appeared in court in June 2022, and were ultimately found guilty. Their sentencing hearing was scheduled for that November, but the month before, Todd finally reunited his daughters on a special crossover episode of their podcasts. “I thought it was B.S. from the very beginning,” Savannah snarked, “But I can understand how he felt – like he lost children of his.”
Though it seemed the extended Chrisley clan was reunifying just in case Todd and Julie were to face prison time, another bombshell dropped during the sentencing hearing.
“During that sentencing hearing, I will never forget seeing my dad’s face,” Savannah recalled. “We learned that before they tried to reconcile, Lindsie wrote to the FBI. The moment the prosecutors read the letter, my dad broke. Tears were falling on the table… It was the most heartbreaking thing in the entire world. Not only was he looking at federal prison, for potentially the rest of his life, but also his child helped put him there.”
Todd shared his own memory of the moment: “To hear a letter read by the prosecution, that my daughter had sent to an FBI agent – I think I knew that the bridge had been burned and there was no way back. My heart just sank. I was in a state of shock.”
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Lindsie had admitted to engaging in communications with the FBI in court months earlier. Though she had reconciled with Todd and Julie by the time of that court appearance, in 2020, Lindsie allegedly requested a restraining order against Todd, whom she accused of harassing her. She also claimed that Todd, with the help of Chase Chrisley, attempted to extort her into cooperation by threatening to release a sex tape she was featured in.
Entertainment Weekly did not immediately hear back from Lindsie Chrisley for comment.
She recanted those earlier claims during her 2022 court appearance, even claiming to have learned the tape didn’t exist, but wrote to the FBI once more before the sentencing trial. Todd claimed on Back to Reality that Lindsie sais she was forced into cooperation, and thought it was for Todd and Julie’s benefit, but the Chrisleys viewed this revelation as a final nail in the coffin.
“I can’t even tell you how your heart hurts and how you feel betrayed by the people you trusted,” said Nanny Faye, Todd’s mother. Grayson, Todd and Julie’s youngest, remarked, “I think we have to be very careful about who we let in our life, because we’ve had own family members betray us.”
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For his own part, Todd noted, “I look at where I am in life, and the irony of the situation is that I have one daughter that participated in sending me to prison, and one daughter who has worked tirelessly to bring her mama and daddy home.”
In May, Todd and Julie Chrisley were granted pardons by President Donald Trump, and have since been released from prison.
Though Lindsie reacted positively to her dad and stepmom’s release, she noted on a March episode of her The Southern Tea podcast, “I have not seen my dad in quite some time and I have had no contact. And that’s all I’m going to say for that.”
In July, she dropped the Chrisley from her name on Instagram, taking the last name Landsman from her current partner, David Landsman, noting her maiden name “became very problematic with me being associated in any capacity.”
New episodes of The Chrisleys: Back to Reality air Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime through Sept. 16.
