Todd Chrisley Opens Up About His Granddaughter, Chloe, Facing Online Bullying
"She's opened our mind to so many things that we didn't even know existed."
By Eileen Reslen
The Chrisleys returned for season 6 of Chrisley Knows Best Tuesday night, including the youngest member of the bunch, Chloe Chrisley.
The five-year-old has not always appeared on the USA reality show, but patriarch Todd Chrisley told People that she now understands what's going on, and "wants to be involved." "She enjoys filming," he said, before adding why the little girl plays such a big role in their family.
"I say, 'God gives you what you never knew you needed' and we needed that. She has literally changed our lives in so many different ways," he said. "She's opened our mind to so many things that we didn't even know existed."
A post shared by Todd Chrisley (@toddchrisley)
When asked what he meant by "things that we didn't even know existed," Todd said Chloe, who is biracial, has been the victim of online bullying because of her skin color.
"We had never dealt with racism. We have learned that it's a very prevalent situation in this country," Todd said. "We learned that, unfortunately, the hard way with negative things that were said about her on social media."
Chloe is the daughter of Todd's estranged son, Kyle, who has reportedly dealt with substance abuse issues. Kyle lost full custody of Chloe when she was just six months old.
On Chrisley Knows Best, Todd, his wife, Julie, and their children, Savannah, Chase, and Grayson have a very loving relationship with Chloe. "We made a conscious decision that she is our child, she is our family member, and we're not going to be a part of anything that's going to cause her to feel less than," Todd said.
The 49-year-old said he is trying to make amends with Kyle so that he will be more involved in Chloe's life, but shared that he's "great."
"He's not in the spotlight, but Chloe is with us, and my hopes are that as time progresses that she will know who her daddy is and that their relationship will change at some point," Todd said.
That relationship is still strained, according to several tabloid reports. In a 2014 interview with The Daily Mail, Kyle accused Todd of using Chloe to get bigger ratings on the show.
"My dad showed no interest in Chloe at all until the show and until it was pointed out that having a mixed race child and getting her and all that would be good for his demographic," he told the newspaper. "He didn't want to see her before then. He said he wanted nothing to do with her."
In 2016, Kyle's wife, Alexus Whibley-Chrisley, who is not Chloe's biological mother, told Radar Online that courts had granted Kyle's request to keep Chloe off of the show. Todd denied the reports, saying that Whibley's claims were "absolutely untrue."
Eileen Reslen I'm Eileen, the digital news reporter at Hearst Digital Media.
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