Todd and Julie Chrisley spoke about 'living through a nightmare' and regretting their fame before they were sentenced to 19 years in prison

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Todd and Julie Chrisley spoke about 'living through a nightmare' and regretting their fame before they were sentenced to 19 years in prison
Julie and Todd Chrisley on their reality TV show "Chrisley Knows Best."USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
  • Todd and Julie Chrisley recorded a new episode of "Chrisley Confessions" before they were sentenced.
  • They expressed regret over "taking on a public platform" and agreeing to be on a reality TV show.
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Todd and Julie Chrisley spoke about "living through a nightmare" and regretting their fame in an episode of their podcast, "Chrisley Confessions," recorded shortly before they were sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison.

The episode was released on Wednesday, two days after the husband-and-wife duo was sentenced for fraud convictions in an Atlanta federal court. Sharing their feelings about the sentencing for the first time since they were convicted in June, the "Chrisley Knows Best" stars said they were going to use God's guidance to get them through.

"Everyone knows that we're living through a nightmare," Julie began the episode before explaining that she has been focusing on "not living in fear."

"It's something that I struggle so hard with because I do feel like I live in fear," she continued, noting that while she believes that "God can work miracles" and "will take care of my family," she is still fearful about the future.

"I know that if I died today, I know where I'm going, but I still have this fear," Julie added.

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The couple then went on to compare their legal woes to the lessons God gave his prophets and said they were using Bible verses to guide them through.

Todd and Julie Chrisley spoke about 'living through a nightmare' and regretting their fame before they were sentenced to 19 years in prison
A court sketch shows Todd and Julie Chrisley listen in court on Monday.Lauren Lacy

"God needed to strip Job down to get him to the place he needed to be, and maybe that's where we are right now. We've got to be stripped down in order to be able to move to the next level. To be able to fulfill what our true destiny is," Julie said.

Todd agreed, adding: "Right. And let's go back to God building you, then breaking you, then blessing you. Job was stripped down, so he was already built up, and then he was broken down, and then he was blessed."

"I think about that," Julie responded. "God took his wife, his kids, everything, and he never lost faith."

Elsewhere in the episode, the couple also expressed regret over "taking on a public platform" via their reality television show which ran for nine seasons on the USA Network.

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"We were living a very nice life, but it wasn't a life that I truly wanted to continue living once we got into it," Todd said.

Todd and Julie Chrisley spoke about 'living through a nightmare' and regretting their fame before they were sentenced to 19 years in prison
"Chrisley Knows Best" and spin-off show "Growing Up Chrisley" have been canceled in light of the scandal.Tommy Garcia/USA Network/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

"I didn't like the lack of privacy. I didn't like that people were knocking on our doors at night. I didn't like people chasing us down the interstate to try to get our pictures because they see us in the car," he continued. "You know the issues that I have with that and the anxiety I have over that."

"99% of the population are looking at that and thinking, 'Well, they hit the lottery,' but they don't have any idea of the price of that," he added.

The pair began appearing on the USA reality show, which follows the day-to-day lives of their large family, in 2014.

According to Deadline, the series and the spinoff show "Growing Up Chrisley," which followed kids Chase and Savannah as they embrace adulthood, have now been canceled.

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On Monday, Todd was given 12 years in prison and 16 months probation, while Julie received seven years in prison and 16 months probation.

The Chrisleys were found guilty of defrauding banks out of more than $30 million by providing fake financial statements making it look like they were wealthier than they were. Peter Tarantino, their accountant, was sentenced to 36 months in prison for his role in the scheme.

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