NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In his first news conference since being pardoned by the president, reality TV star Todd Chrisley teased the family’s return to TV with a new series.

“We started filming literally the night that we got home,” Todd Chrisley, 56, told reporters in Nashville on Friday — less than 48 hours after he and his wife, Julie Chrisley, had been released from prison.

Lifetime confirmed earlier this month that it had given the green light to a docuseries featuring the Chrisley children slated to air later this year, and Todd Chrisley said he and his wife would be part of this show. 

Todd Chrisley was joined by his 27-year-old daughter, Savannah Chrisley, at Friday’s news conference. His wife — Julie Chrisley, 52 — did not attend. The reality TV couple has two other children together, and they had been raising their granchild before their imprisonment. Todd Chrisley also has two other children from a previous marriage. 

Savannah Chrisley said the forthcoming series would show Todd and Chrisley reuniting for the first time after their time behind bars. 

The couple was found guilty of bank and tax fraud by a jury in 2022 after a nearly three-week trial and sentenced to a combined 19 years in prison. Prosecutors alleged they had used faked financial documents to convince community banks in the Atlanta area to give them more than $36 million in personal loans and then used the money on luxury cars, designer clothes, real estate and travel, as well as paying back prior loans. 

The couple also concealed the millions they made from their reality show and didn't file tax returns or pay taxes for several years, the U.S. attorney's office said.

A three-judge appeals panel upheld their convictions last year.

The Chrisleys’ family life and lavish lifestyle were documented during their 10-season television show, “Chrisley Knows Best.” The show also led to a spinoff, “Growing Up Chrisley,” which featured the couple’s children, Chase and Savannah Chrisley, in Los Angeles.

On Friday, Todd Chrisley praised President Donald Trump and Alice Marie Johnson, the president’s “pardon czar,” for bringing about his release. Johnson, who had been serving a life sentence on cocaine possession and money laundering charges in a drug conspiracy case, was herself pardoned by Trump and released from prison in 2018.

Todd Chrisley also thanked his daughter, Savannah Chrisley, who he said “fought a long fight.”

“For any parent to see their child fight this hard. it’s a double-edged sword,” Todd Chrisley said. “It’s a blessing, and then your heart breaks because your child has been placed in that position to fight for you when you as a parent are supposed to fight for your children.”

Savannah Chrisley said she had frequently traveled to Washington, D.C., to lobby on behalf of her parents. She was at the grocery store Tuesday when she received the call telling her that her parents would be freed, and she and her brother Grayson Chrisley heard it first-hand from Trump. 

Savannah Chrisley recounted picking up her father the following day from prison and subsequently FaceTiming with the president.

“When he walked down, it was just such an overwhelming feeling because the last time I was there, I was dropping him off and watching him walk away,” she said of her father. "We got to FaceTime the president, and it was just — it was a full-circle moment.”

Todd and Savannah Chrisley later went to Nordstrom on Thursday evening so Todd Chrisley could pick up a few items, and the father-daughter duo made an Instagram video about their efforts to avoid paparazzi. 

“I’ve been out for 12 hours, and I’m shopping,” Todd Chrisley joked for the camera, with a shopping bag atop his head.

“I’m back,” he whispered. 

Both Todd and Savannah Chrisley contended during Friday’s news conference that the charges against the couple were politically motivated and there had been no wrongdoing. 

The pardons for the Chrisleys came amid a flurry of clemenancy granted by Trump to celebrities, prominent political figures and even one of Chicago’s most infamous gang leaders, Larry Hoover. For Hoover, however, his 200-year state sentence for murder remains in effect.

The Associated Press contributed to this reporting.