Savannah Chrisley Calls Her 'Special Forces' Appearance 'a Way to Connect' with Imprisoned Parents

"Obviously, we have an outstanding appeal that we're just waiting on final word on, and we're prepared to fight it until the very end," she told PEOPLE of her parents' legal woes

Savannah Chrisley is using unconventional methods to connect with her incarcerated parents.

While speaking to PEOPLE at the season 2 premiere of Special Forces: World's Toughest Test, the 26-year-old Chrisley Knows Best alum opened up about her decision to appear on the militant reality show during a tough time in her life.

On Nov. 22, a federal judge sentenced her parents Todd Chrisley, 54, and Julie Chrisley, 50, to 12 and seven years of prison, respectively, after they were found guilty of tax evasion and fraud. However, the reality stars were given reduced sentences last week.

Related: Everything to Know About the $30 Million Fraud Trial Against Todd and Julie Chrisley

According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' online inmate search system, the Chrisley family patriarch will now leave the Federal Prison Camp Pensacola on Jan. 22, 2033, which is nearly two years before his original sentence was meant to conclude. Julie’s sentence has been shortened by 14 months, moving her release from the Federal Medical Center Lexington up to Oct. 19, 2028.

“I think life's already hard, so what's one more thing?” Savannah said, explaining her decision to take on the challenge. “Also too, this was a big way to say just first off, my parents can watch this. So for that, I'm grateful and it's a way to connect with each other, but also the amount of respect I have for our military is insane.”

Related: Savannah Chrisley Had a 'Full-on Breakdown' Over Caring for Siblings amid Her Parents' Prison Sentence

Though her parents have received a reduced sentence, she shared more insight about their plans to further decrease their time in prison.

Savannah explained how their sentences were reduced because of the First Step Act, which allows “incarcerated individuals a second chance to enter back into society” through classes in exchange for lower sentences.

“Obviously, we have an outstanding appeal that we're just waiting on final word on, and we're prepared to fight it until the very end,” she continued. “And I feel very confident that it will go in our favor just because the amount of government overreach is absolutely insane and until people start stepping up, if it happened to us, it can happen to anyone else.”

Related: Lindsie Chrisley Says Her Parents' Legal Battle Has Made Her Family 'Closer': We've 'Banded Together'

In July, Todd and Julie's attorney Jay Surgent gave PEOPLE an update on the pair's appeal process and shared that new filings were submitted on the 31st of the month.

"The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals can reverse the District Court, or they could remand the case back for hearings that should have been held that were not held during the course of this trial," he explained. "We argued very vigorously that their constitutional rights have been violated, and that they basically were not given a fair hearing. It's all in black and white, actually."

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The twosome's other attorney, Alex Little, later said on Savannah's Unlocked podcast that "it's going to be a hard lift, but in this case, we've got, you know, real legitimate substantive arguments that we think, you know, if the court takes fairly, has a very good shot of winning."

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