Chrisley Knows Best star Savannah Chrisley has opened up about a suicide attempt in her life and how her father Todd Chrisley saved her life.

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"I didn't really have a life-or-death experience, but I did try committing suicide -- so that potentially was maybe my life-or-death experience," Savannah, 25, told mental health and addiction awareness advocate Patrick Custer during a recent episode of her "Unlocked" podcast.

"But for me, it was more of a cry for help," she added.

Savannah, who filmed 10 seasons of Chrisley Knows Best and four seasons of Growing Up Chrisley for USA Network, had a difficult time recalling when exactly she had tried to take her own life.

Savannah guessed her suicide attempt took place when she was around 15 or 16-years-old, and possibly before her family started filming Chrisley Knows Best, which premiered in 2014.

"It's so crazy because when you go through so much trauma, I feel like your mind just blocks it out," she explained. "I also feel like, too, there were maybe some side effects to what I had done to where it affected my memory, but it all really was a blur."

Savannah, however, does remember waking up in the hospital with her parents, Todd Chrisley and Julie Chrisley, by her side.

"Even at that time, I remember lying to the doctors because I didn't want to be held at the hospital," Savannah admitted.

"[I was like], 'Nothing is wrong. It was just a bad moment.'"

Savannah said while filming her family's reality show -- which thrust her into the spotlight and public scrutiny amid her mental and emotional issues -- she remembers "masking over" the severity of her health crisis by telling herself, "[My suicide attempt] was just a hiccup. I'm fine, I'm not crazy."

But the podcaster said Todd really "stepped up" to help her following the incident.

"My dad spent countless hours with me every day, just trying to get me to talk," Savannah revealed.

"[He was] telling me his life stories -- his trauma -- trying to let me know like, 'Hey, I'm not this perfect person you've always thought I am. I've gone through stuff in my life, too. I've had trauma. I want you to feel comfortable talking to me about it.' And it took me a while."

Savannah added of her beloved father, whom she continued to rely on for emotional support in subsequent years, "I literally don't know if I would be here today without him, because he literally saved me in every single aspect."

Diving deeper into her issues growing up, Savannah disclosed how she felt the need to keep up with a "picture-perfect image" of herself and her family.

"I had an older brother who struggled with mental illness and addiction... and then I was on TV at 16, and I was being told what I needed to look like and what I needed to do. I was given this character, in a way, of what I needed to be, and then I fell into it," Savannah explained.

Savannah, who said she felt "forced to be" someone she's not for television, recalled battling a poor self-image and depression, which resulted in her being obsessed with diet, exercise and her next success or accomplishment.

Savannah, a former beauty pageant queen, said her trauma response was "hyper perfection and performance" in order to gain attention and be the best, especially when competing against her brother Chase Chrisley in school and extra curricular activities.

"I grew up and therapy wasn't something you did," Savannah noted.

But Chrisley Knows Best was canceled once Todd and Julie were sentenced to 12 years and seven years in prison, respectively, for fraud and tax evasion.

The couple was found guilty of tax evasion, bank and wire fraud and conspiracy in June 2022, and they reported to prison in January 2023.

While her parents serve their sentences, Savannah has custody of her younger brother Grayson, 16, and her niece Chloe, 10.

During a November 2022 episode of "Unlocked," Savannah confessed her parents' legal troubles were having a profound affect on her mental health.

"When it comes to my dad, I think the hardest part about this for me is, he's always been the one I've gone to for the emotional things... This whole experience is kind of -- it's taking me to a really dark place," Savannah shared.

Savannah also said during a May episode of her podcast that she had reached "the anger part of grief" with her parents locked behind bars.

"I'm just angry at everything. And also, after taking on the kids. I'm like, 'Okay. Do I actually want kids? Do I? You know, seeing how much this whole thing has affected us?'" she admitted.

But Savannah assured her listeners that she loves those two kids "more than life itself" and continues to have "so much fun" with them.




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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