Savannah Chrisley Feels Like She's 'Grieving' for People Who 'Are Still Alive' Before Parents' Prison Terms
Todd and Julie Chrisley's imminent prison sentence has changed how Savannah Chrisley is approraching her relationship with her parents.
Savannah opened up about how she's processing the fallout of her parents' legal woes during a chat with brother Chase Chrisley's fiancée Emmy Medders on her Unlocked podcast.
"Dad's always been my go-to. That's always been my steady. If I'm having a bad day, he knows. He's just like, 'What's wrong? I know you're struggling today,'" said the Chrisley Knows Best star, 25. "We just have that relationship and we talk about every single thing. That's where I can go to and just completely fall apart and him help me bring myself back up."
She continued, "With both mom and dad, I've said it's like grieving the loss of parents that are still alive, which is the hardest thing in the world. I feel like I've distanced myself to prepare for what's coming."
RELATED: Lindsie Chrisley Shares How Her Parents Are Spending Final Weeks Before Reporting to Prison
Vivian Zink/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty
Savannah also admitted she finds it challenging to continue living a normal life in the midst of her parents' tribulations. "The amount of people who will come at me for posting Sassy stuff. It's like guys, I have a business I have to run," she said.
Emmy pointed out that Savannah can't "stop [her] life" just because of her parents' own situation, to which the reality television veteran agreed.
"I think that's what I'm struggling with right now is business-wise, I keep pushing forward because that's always been my easy, go-to to where I don't have to focus on anything else," she continued. "So business-wise, I'm going to push forward. I'm going to do my podcast, [my beauty brand] Sassy. I'm going to do all the things. But personally, I feel like there's a level of guilt associated with moving on with my life and thinking of mom and dad not being here during certain life events."
She continued, "In my mind, I can't move on with my life. Until I know that they're going to be there, I can't get married. I can't have a kid. ... [But I know] they're going to eventually one day get to be a part of it."
RELATED: Julie Chrisley Says She's Been 'Praying' There's a 'Reason' for Her Family's Legal Journey
Savannah then recalled some sage words Todd, 53, recently bestowed upon her.
"Dad was like, 'I may not be here in front of you, but I'm still alive. I'm still fighting. You don't have to live a day without speaking to me,'" she said, adding that she's currently "angry and I'm sad and upset."
Following their June conviction and subsequent appeal for fraud and tax evasion, Todd and Julie, 49, were sentenced by a federal judge in November. Todd received 12 years in prison while Julie was given seven years behind bars. They were both sentenced to a 16-month probation period after serving their respective stints.
Despite submitting a second appeal, they are expected to report to prison in Florida on Jan. 17.
Danielle Del Valle/Getty for E3 Chophouse Nashville Julie and Todd Chrisley
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Their daughter Lindsie Chrisley recently told PEOPLE her family has grown "closer" through this experience.
"I think inevitably whenever you go through something hard, no matter what that may be, we've gone through divorce, the legal stuff, all of these things. I think that you gravitate towards what you know," shared the Southern Tea podcast host, 33.
"You band together and stand together when times do get tough. That is family," she continued. "I do think in some ways it, for sure, has brought us closer together. But I would've wished that it would've been for other reasons and not this."
