Savannah Chrisley Recalls ‘Rough’ Night Before Parents’ Oral Arguments Hearing: ‘I Literally Just Broke Down’

“Some things had happened, some drama had occurred and on top of everything else that I’m dealing with and then this trial and this hearing, it was so much for me to deal with,” Savannah Chrisley said

Savannah Chrisley is opening up about her emotions before parents Todd and Julie Chrisley’s oral arguments last week.

On the latest episode of her Unlocked podcast, the Chrisley Knows Best alum, 26, recalled the lead up to the April 19 hearing — which was part of her parents’ ongoing appeal — explaining, “We went to Atlanta Thursday night and it was a rough one. It was such a rough night.”

“Some things had happened, some drama had occurred and on top of everything else that I’m dealing with and then this trial and this hearing, it was so much for me to deal with,” she said. “I literally just broke down.”

Despite normally being able to keep her emotions in check, the reality star admitted she broke down in tears the night before the hearing.

“I think I broke down one other time like this since mom and dad left 15 months ago, and it was so tough for me,” she shared. “There was just some PTSD and some triggers that occurred that really just sent me into a tailspin and I just broke down. I was sitting on the bathroom floor, hysterically in tears with [friend] Aaron, with [hairstylist] Tyler and with [boyfriend] Robert [Shiver].”

“But, I needed it,” she added. “I know my body needed it and I have to get better at listening to my body and what my body needs because it’s okay to break down. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to feel all the emotions but for so long, I have tried to convince myself like I’m stronger than my emotions. I’m stronger than what I’ve been through.”

The television personality added that she previously held her emotions back, saying, “I don’t cry. Like who cries? I don’t. Joke is on me because it all just came flooding out and dealing with trauma of my past, I’ve realized that I haven’t done a great job.”

Savannah also reflected on how she faces struggles despite going to therapy to help her navigate her family’s legal troubles.

“I have done so much therapy and I thought like, ‘Okay, I’m okay,’” she explained. “When in reality, I’m still struggling with it. And I think that’s just a lesson to myself — and hopefully that I can teach others — is just because you go through something hard, and you do therapy and you talk about it, it doesn’t mean that you have to be healed. It doesn’t mean that you have to forget about it. It doesn’t mean that you just have to move forward and ignore your hurt because I think that’s how I’ve lived.”

She added: “That’s kind of how I lived my whole life. It’s just like I have to move forward. I have to be successful. I have to prove to people certain things.”

However, she now realizes all she needs to prove to herself that “worthy of success that comes my way, that I’m worthy of love that comes my way, that I’m worthy of great friends that come my way.”

After getting only “good solid 30 minutes of sleep,” she put her best foot forward, explaining, “I got up, I got ready, I put a smile on my face, I threw on my suit like a boss and I headed towards that courtroom.”

Savannah shared that she had a supportive group around her for the difficult day in court, saying, “I had all my friends and all the people I love and family beside me [and] that just made me so grateful for that moment because at the end of the day, family doesn’t have to be blood and I know so many people are listening that have deep-rooted family issues or strains and relationships and you feel an immense level of loss and so many different things.”

“But, you have to figure out how to turn that into something good,” she concluded. “And what I’ve realized is sure, certain family members may suck and I don’t have to consider them family. But I do know that God puts people in my life to replace those people. God has put great friends in my life that are not friends, their family and that’s what I’m grateful for. So family isn’t blood, family is what you make it and the people that showed up for me in court, I will never forget.”

Todd, 55, and Julie, 51, were sentenced in November 2022 for fraud and tax evasion. Despite filing to appeal their case that December, they reported to prison in January 2023. Todd is serving his time at Federal Prison Camp Pensacola in Florida and Julie remains at Federal Medical Center Lexington in Kentucky.

In their absence, Savannah, 26, has become the legal guardian to her younger siblings Grayson, 17, and Chloe, 11. (Chloe is the biological daughter of Savannah’s estranged brother Kyle Chrisley but Todd and Julie legally adopted her in 2017.)

Two months after Todd and Julie’s combined 19-year sentence was reduced in September 2023, Savannah revealed that the longtime couple — who wed in 1996 — were granted an oral arguments hearing. “Only about 6 percent of cases that are submitted for oral arguments get accepted. So this is huge news,” she explained at the time.

Savannah made an appearance on Good Morning America on April 19 ahead of the early morning court hearing. During the interview, she spoke about what kept her going amid this hard time for her family.

“I think I motivate myself with replaying the image of my parents coming home,” she said.