Chase and Savannah Are California Dreaming on ‘Growing Up Chrisley’

Growing Up Chrisley
Q&A
Tommy Garcia/USA Network

Chase and Savannah Chrisley are California dreaming, leaving the Southern comforts of Nashville for the bright lights of Los Angeles in their Chrisley Knows Best spinoff Growing Up Chrisley.

The brother-sister duo is not only looking to find success in their business ventures, but to prove to their often-overprotective dad Todd they can be responsible young adults. Before the adventure gets underway, Chase and Savannah sit down for some Chrisley Q&A.

How did this spinoff come about?

Savannah: I think Growing Up Chrisley happened pretty organically. With Chase and I, we’re only 14 months apart. With that comes being best friends but also a lot of arguing. I think that’s the reality. You can be best friends and at each other’s throats five seconds later. Of course, our dad was like, “This could be great.” Everyone on social media also loves the relationship Chase and I have, how playful we are. There are so many factors that went into it. The network loved the idea, and we have this spinoff. We are excited for it.

How would you describe the feel of the show? Did you go in not wanting to change the elements of what makes Chrisley Knows Best so successful?

Chase: I think it’s more Savannah and I dealing with figuring out who we are and what we want to do. There is also the comedic value there, with a bunch of funny stuff. We go through struggles together and individually, but we come together and help push each other through.

The premise of the show is you have three months to make it in L.A. However, I know you had a road trip getting there. What was that like?

Savannah: It was pretty interesting. The road trip in itself was a lot. My grandmother Nanny Faye, she went with us. We had to stop at casinos. We had to stop at all these different places because she saw it as a time to be an adventurer.

Chase: Next time I’m flying.

Savannah: Exactly. We just wanted to get to L.A. to work. Halfway through I was like, “You know what, I will walk. Whatever I have to do to get there and not stop is what I’m going to do.”

You’ve been to California before, but how did it compare to actually being there for a long period of time and immersing yourself in the environment? It’s certainly not Atlanta or Nashville.

Chase: I loved L.A. and would live there year-round. I think Savannah feels differently about it.

Savannah: L.A. was great and a great opportunity for us. We were able to get a lot of business stuff done. For that, I’m grateful. But L.A. is a different beast. The people are different. The traffic I do not love. It was a lot, but it was a great learning experience. You come across many walks of life, which was amazing because I’ve learned so much working on my cosmetics line and other fun projects. L.A. was fun, but I was ready to get back to Nashville.

Cythina Hicks/USA Network

Do you feel any added pressure being at the forefront of the show as opposed to being part of the family ensemble?

Savannah: I think there is a lot more pressure on us because it’s just the two of us. It was fun, which I think is the best part of Growing Up Chrisley. It was focused on us, meaning we got to 110 percent be ourselves. I had a lot of dumb blonde moments, but we got through them. Chase had a couple.

Chase: A couple?

Savannah: Yeah, you had a lot.

Chase: Yeah right.

Do you feel closer after this experience and living together again?

Chase: Savannah and I both agree being roommates is definitely not in the cards for us.

Savannah: We may end up doing it again, but we’re going to have some different parameters. Living with your brother is not the ideal situation.

Chase: Living with your sister is not the ideal situation.

Savannah: Chase is very messy. He is your typical 22-year-old.

Chase: Savannah? I am not messy. I am very clean.

Savannah: Don’t even. If that’s your lie, you can tell it. It was very difficult, but we may give it another run. We’ll see how it goes because there are some other things we want to tackle in L.A.

What can viewers expect with the upcoming first episodes?

Chase: It’s us adjusting to living in L.A. and trying to work out the kinks. As it goes on, you get to see us venture out into what we are most passionate about doing.

Savannah: I feel like Growing Up Chrisley was a great time for Chase and me to be ourselves and find out where we want to be in life. I worked on my cosmetics line and other projects. It was about us learning and becoming more responsible and realizing that you don’t get everything handed to you. You have to work for it.

Tommy Garcia/USA Network

Chase, I believe you were working on an acting career? Was it harder than you expected?

Chase: It made me go out of my comfort zone a lot, which obviously made me nervous. At the same time, I enjoyed it.

Did your dad give you any advice before you left on the trip?

Chase: He told me if I go to jail, don’t call him.

Savannah: He told me to “take care of your brother.”

What’s the one thing you want people to walk away from?

Savannah: I would love for viewers to realize you don’t have to take life so seriously. You can mess up, and it’s okay. It’s a matter of how you come back from it. It’s okay to be vulnerable. It’s okay to live life your way. You can be a bit selfish at times because we all have to figure out our place in the world. We may have a few bumps in the road, but you’ll end up finding it. I hope people can watch our show and feel a little bit better about their lives. Maybe even learn from it.

You’ve essentially grown up in front of the camera. What is it like to look back at how far you’ve come and having cameras follow you at this stage of your life?

Chase: If you do this for as long as we have, there are definitely moments where you’re like, “Gosh, I wish the cameras weren’t around.” At the end of the day, this is what we signed up for, and I’d way rather work with my family than work with a bunch of strangers. We’re grateful for everything.

Savannah: I can not have said it better. We grew up on TV. We were 15 and 16 when everything started. We are now 22 and 22. We’ve had a lot of learning curves. We realize people watch our show and look up to us. It puts a certain amount of pressure to do things right, but I feel people can resonate with our show because we do make mistakes.

I think our whole family motto is if we’re going through something that is affecting our lives, we’re going to put it on television because we know it could help someone in some way, shape or form. We’ll take our struggles and put them out in the world if we think someone else is going to learn and grow from it. That’s what we are here to do. We have this platform to impact others, so we’re going to run with it. There is a lot left for us to do in this world.

Growing Up Chrisley premieres Tuesday, April 2 at 10:30/9:30c on USA Network