At a Glance
- Todd and Julie Chrisley were revealed as Mr. and Mrs. Croissant in the Jan. 14 episode
- The appearance marked their first trip together since their May 28, 2025 prison release
- They kept the gig secret from their kids and Nanny Faye, despite mounting family suspicion
- Why it matters: The couple used the show to signal their comeback after a two-and-a-half-year separation
The season 14 premiere of The Masked Singer ended with a flaky twist when the towering croissant costumes came off and revealed Todd and Julie Chrisley. The Jan. 14 unmasking confirmed judge Jenny McCarthy’s on-air prediction and gave the Chrisleys a public stage to mark their first outing as a couple since their release from federal custody.
First Escape Together
Todd, 56, told News Of Losangeles the Fox shoot carried extra meaning because it was “the first thing that Julie and I did together without the kids being around or anyone else around us since we came home.”
- They were apart for two-and-a-half years while serving separate prison terms
- President Donald Trump granted the couple a full pardon on May 28, 2025
- Their original combined sentence totaled 19 years, later trimmed by a few years
- Charges included tax evasion and bank fraud
“It was our first time being away together,” Todd added. “I enjoyed the fact that it was just me and Julie, that we were depending on each other and that there was really no stress to it.”
Clues, Costumes and Elvis
Producers leaned hard into the Chrisleys’ tabloid history. Their package narration said life was good “until we were torn apart,” claimed they were “canceled,” and celebrated the “miracle” that reunited them.
Song choice drove the point home:
- They performed “Jailhouse Rock” by Elvis Presley
- Todd admitted the clues were “directly correlated to us and our life experiences”
- Julie figured the moment the song was presented that “people are going to guess it”
The croissant theme carried private significance. Todd linked the French pastry to family memories of Nic Kerdiles, Savannah’s late fiancé. “When we got to see it, it was obviously a French croissant, and I looked at Julie, and I said, ‘This is Nic. We have to do this.'”
Operation: Deny Everything
Despite the bread-crumb trail of clues, the Chrisleys launched a full-scale secrecy campaign at home.
How family suspicion grew
- Savannah Chrisley, who competed on the show in 2024, heard crew chatter and phoned her parents in L.A.
- Nanny Faye spotted Facebook gossip and demanded answers
- Both parents repeatedly denied involvement
Todd recounted his daughter’s interrogation: “She said, ‘Daddy, I was there. I know people that’s on set, and I just heard that my parents are the loveliest people in the world.’ And I said, ‘Well, that’s what you get if you go with me to Joans on Third. That’s not a tip!'”
When Nanny Faye called, Todd brushed off the rumor. “Mama, why are you now believing anything on Facebook?” he recalled saying. “She’s going to cuss me out because now she’s gone back to her friends and said it was a lie.”
Stage Fright vs. Showmanship
Todd entered with a slight edge-he had recorded a 2016 single with country singer Sara Evans. For Julie, 53, the stage felt foreign.
> “It, for me, was stepping out of my comfort zone completely,” she said. “It wasn’t so much out of his comfort zone, but it definitely was for me.”
The couple embraced the silliness.
- Julie “loved it immediately” and called the concept “a great fit”
- Todd joked that “no one was going on there searching for a Grammy”
- They described the experience as “very lighthearted” and “a very nice time”
Life After Prison
The Chrisleys’ prime-time re-entry follows a highly publicized legal saga. Prosecutors said the couple exaggerated earnings to borrow more than $30 million and hid assets from the IRS. Appeals trimmed a few years off their original 19-year total, but they still faced the prospect of lengthy incarceration until the presidential pardon.
Their Masked Singer gig functions as both a personal milestone and a soft relaunch into the public eye-one croissant costume at a time.
Key Takeaways
- The Chrisleys used the Fox platform to signal their return to normal life
- The couple prioritized privacy, treating the taping as a rare getaway
- Family members pieced together the truth long before the masks came off
- Song selection and clue packages directly referenced their prison timeline
The Masked Singer airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. ET on Fox and streams next-day on Hulu and Disney+ with the Hulu bundle.
