Reality stars Todd and Julie Chrisley have said they were only able to communicate sporadically via email while serving federal prison sentences for bank and tax fraud.

Todd and Julie were convicted in 2022 and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison. Todd served his time at the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in Florida, while Julie was locked up

at Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky. They spent just over two years behind bars before President Donald Trump issued them full pardons on May 27, 2025.

Appearing on the latest episode of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s Off the Vine podcast, The Chrisleys: Back to Reality stars claimed they weren’t allowed to speak to each other during that two years.

“We were able to email, but the email was very sporadic and it would take, sometimes two, three days for me to get an email or him to get an email,” Julie shared, per People. “So we did not speak.”

Julie and Todd have been married for almost 30 years, so it was a major adjustment for them both being apart from one another. However, Julie said the “biggest challenge” was not being able to be there for their children.

“We were still raising kids, and even adult kids, they still need their parents,” she stated. “And it has always been us against them, because we’ve always been outnumbered, so it’s always been us against them. So not being able to talk and collaborate and say, ‘Okay, how are we going to handle this situation?’ Because you do try to parent as much as you can.”

Julie and Todd share three children, Chase, Savannah, and Grayson Chrisley, as well as Chloe Chrisley, the daughter of Todd’s eldest son Kyle Chrisley, whom they adopted in 2016. Todd also has a daughter, Lindsie Chrisley, from a previous marriage.

“You have to, at that point, decide which child you’re going to talk to, who needs you the most that day,” Julie said about staying in touch with her kids while in prison, noting how “it was a lot harder” for her to keep in contact than Todd because her calls were limited to 10 minutes per day.

As for not having Todd to speak to, Julie said the “hardest part” was not having her “person” around when she was having a bad day, or even when having a good day, “you know, a birthday comes or a holiday… those are big deals at our house. They’ve always been.”

Todd told Bristowe that he got through the situation by recalling on his memories of Julie, saying, “I remember the first date that we ever had. I remember the first kiss. I mean, I’m the one who keeps the first ticket stubs from the movie that we went to. I remember everything about our relationship, so those memories kept me going.”

He also revealed how a magazine his daughter Savannah brought him proved invaluable, as it contained a perfume sample that he recognized as one his wife wore.

“I literally remember taking that and rubbing it on my pillow so that I could smell it every night,” he shared. “And then I put it on the collar of my jacket so that I could smell it.”

Todd added, “As oddly as this is going to be or sound, I never felt separated from her, because spiritually and emotionally, I was with her every second of every day. So I didn’t have that separation anxiety because she was still with me.”