Was ‘Chrisley Knows Best’ Scripted?

Todd Chrisley and his family are back on TV in the new Lifetime docuseries, The Chrisleys: Back to Reality.

The first episode, which aired tonight, reintroduced the family to the world for the first time since Todd and Julie Chrisley were found guilty of fraud and tax evasion and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison.

They first found fame as an eccentric Southern family in USA Network’s Chrisley Knows Best, which aired for 10 seasons before Todd and Julie reported to their respective prison sentences in January 2023. The new docuseries outlines their family background, taking viewers from their childhood, to their reality TV stardom, to their lives months before Todd and Julie were ultimately pardoned by President Donald Trump.

Of course, this is a family known for having no filter—and the youngest of the clan, Chloe Chrisley, is no different as she spilled some major tea about their defunct reality show. Keep reading to find out what she said.

Was Chrisley Knows Best Scripted?

According to Chloe Chrisley, Chrisley Knows Best was scripted.

In a surprising on-camera moment between Savannah Chrisley and Chloe in The Chrisleys: Back to Reality, the 12-year-old complains to her older sister about having “cameras in [her] face all the time” and their “not normal” lives. When Savannah reminds Chloe that she’s been in front of cameras her whole life, Chloe responds, “Yeah, when it was scripted.” Savannah nervously looks around the room before replying, “Well, now it is not.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard that Chrisley Knows Best was scripted. In 2017, a source told RadarOnline that Todd had been using a “team of comedy writers” to write his dialogue for several seasons. The source claimed that “more than half of the dialogue on the show is scripted and a large majority of the scenes are reshot when they are not as funny as he wants them to be.”

During Todd and Chrisley’s 2022 trial, their attorney Bruce Morris revealed that while some of the show is real, “some of it is not,” per Business Insider. Their wealth, for example, was often exaggerated. According to the lawyer, Todd’s claim in one episode that the family spends $300,000 in clothes a year was a lie.

“He was in bankruptcy at the time,” Morris said. “It’s all part of the sizzle. It’s all part of the show. It’s all part of the act.”

Who Is Chloe Chrisley? Chrisley Family Explained:

There are a lot of people in the Chrisley family, so it can be confusing if you’re just coming into it. Todd Chrisley has two children from his first marriage: Lindsie Chrisley, 35, and Kyle Chrisley, 33. When he married Julie Chrisley, she adopted his two children as her own. Together, they had Chase Chrisley, 29, Savannah Chrisley, 28, and Grayson Chrisley, 19.

Chloe Chrisley, 12, is the daughter of Todd’s eldest son, Kyle, who was “not in a position to be a dad” at the time she was born.

“Her mother let us have her every other weekend. And then every other weekend turned into every other week. And then, I’ll never forget her calling my parents one day, saying, ‘I need you to come get Chloe. We don’t have anywhere to stay and I can’t have her sleep in the car,’” Savannah said in the docuseries. “Then she signed over custody completely.”

According to Savannah, Todd could never bring himself to fully terminate Kyle’s rights as a parent. Therefore, the adoption wasn’t made official until a month or two before Todd and Julie went to prison. It was done so neither Kyle or Chloe’s biological mother could come back and take her away while they were incarcerated.

How To Watch The Chrisleys: Back to Reality:

The Chrisleys: Back to Reality will release two-hour specials on Monday, Sept. 2 and Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 8/7c on Lifetime. Back-to-back episodes will begin airing every Tuesday starting on Sept. 9, with the finale airing on Tuesday, Sept. 16. With a valid cable login, you can watch the docuseries on Lifetime and/or Lifetime.com.

How To Watch The Chrisleys: Back to Reality Online Without Cable:

Cut the cord? No worries! The Chrisleys: Back to Reality will be available to stream with subscriptions to platforms like Fubo, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV and Sling TV.