Savannah Chrisley Says Mom Julie Made Voice Recordings for Her Family at Build-A-Bear Before Prison: 'I Still Play It'

Mar. 15, 2025

Julie Chrisley (left) and Savannah Chrisley (right).Photo:Terry Wyatt/Getty

Terry Wyatt/Getty

Savannah Chrisleyis sitting down with her friends to reflect on the days before her parents turned themselves into federal prison.

On the Sept. 10 round table episode of herUnlockedpodcast,the reality star opened up about what she and her family did before Todd, 55, and Julie, 51, went away.

“I went into the living room and everyone was in there and Julie came in 30 or 40 minutes later, and she had gone to Build-a-Bear and recorded prayers for each one of her children,” Savannah’s friendTyler Bishopremembered.

“What originally happened was she did it forChloebecause she said Chloe’s prayers with her every night,” Savannah, 27, added. “And she didn’t realize — because that was something that she and Chloe always did — then,Graysonhad tears in his eyes and was like, ‘I want one too.’ And Build-a-Bear closed in like 30 minutes, and she raced to Build-a-Bear and made him two, made me one, made Chase one. And we all still have it.”

(l-r) Faye Chrisley, Chase Chrisley, Todd Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, Chloe Chrisley, Julie Chrisley, Grayson Chrisley.Tommy Garcia/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank

Savannah said she plays the voice recording often so she can hear her mom’s voice, but11-year-old Chloe(who is Todd and Julie’s biological granddaughter but has since been adopted) is still hesitant.

“Someone played it the other day and Chloe freaked out and was like ‘Don’t play it, don’t play it,’ because she hasn’t listened to it at all,” Savannah shared.

Tyler interjected: “Watching y’all for the first time play them to yourselves and listening to it was so heartbreaking.”

Thinking about the case — Todd and Julie received aguilty verdict for bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022— Savannah said the family avoided the truth of the situation almost the entire time. Tyler noted that “nobody accepted the fact that they were going away until they got there.”

“That was something that mom and I have talked about,” Savannah revealed. “It was an impossible situation but she wishes they would have actually prepared to go because everyone was in so much denial that they didn’t do anything to prepare to go. Not packing the kids stuff up, moving them, packing their stuff up.”

(l-r) Julie Chrisley, Savannah Chrisley, Todd Chrisley.Vivian Zink/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Vivian Zink/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty

Onlast week’s episodeof her podcast, theChrisley Knows Bestalumexplained how she handledthe court proceedings leading up to her parents’ prison time. She said after hearing their guilty verdict, she had a hard time expressing her emotions.

“I didn’t cry the whole way home,” she told her friends. “I don’t even remember getting home.”

“When I got home, I literally walked in the door and collapsed,” she recalled, continuing to say that she “could not calm down” and eventually “took something to, like, calm me down.”

“I couldn’t even function.”

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The longtime couple reported to prison on January 17, 2023, with Todd at the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in Florida and his wife Julie at the Federal Medical Center Lexington in Kentucky.

(L-R) Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley attend the 52nd Academy Of Country Music Awards at Toshiba Plaza on April 2, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada.Kevin Mazur/ACMA2017/Getty

Since then, Julie’s case wasappealed due to her sentencing due to insufficient evidence. She is set to receive a new sentencein court in Atlanta on Sept. 25.

source: people.com