‘Chrisley Knows Best’: Todd and Julie Chrisley Struggle With Lying to Son Grayson

Is honestly always the best policy? It’s an ethical question Todd and Julie Chrisley struggled with in regards to son Grayson in Tuesday’s episode of Chrisley Knows Best, as they debated whether or not to tell the whole truth when it came to their 13-year-old’s upcoming orthodontic work.

With the teen already inheriting a bit of his father’s trademark anxious nature, Julie and Todd were nervous about letting him know getting his braces on would also include getting an expander, due to his “very small” mouth. While Julie and Todd were fully on board with letting him find out at the orthodontist’s office, sister Savannah thought her parents’ dishonesty was totally out of line.

“You have to prepare him mentally,” she implored her parents, who insisted keeping the info from him would simply prevent him from worrying over nothing.

“I’m genuinely concerned for both of your moral compasses,” son Chase chimed in. “How many times did y’all lie to us?”

Todd answered, “All the time.”

Assuring Grayson that everything would be “easy peasy, in and out” on the day off, Julie justified her fib to the camera, “There are many times as a parent that you make the decision to withhold information or just to lie to them in general.”

“I mean, we still lie to Chase and Savannah now,” Todd added.

When the big news broke, Grayson was a little freaked out, but managed to quell his anxiety and be a perfect patient.

“Grayson finding out everything he’s going to have done sitting down in the chair, right now, was actually perfect,” Julie explained later. “He didn’t have time to overanalyze it; he didn’t have time to look it up on the internet. It’s happening here and now.”

Except Grayson’s sore mouth, things were going on just fine post-visit, until Savannah spilled the beans that everyone but the patient knew about his expander days ahead of time.

“Every family member has a role, and Savannah’s role is being the snitch,” Todd deadpanned.

But Grayson was hurt, telling his parents, “If it’s going on about me, I need to know. How can I trust y’all?”

“I might have worried, but I could have handled the details,” he added.

After thinking more about their choices, the Chrisleys approached their youngest son with their tails between their legs to apologize.

“The reason that we didn’t tell you is because we didn’t want you to worry,” Julie explained. “It wasn’t because we intentionally wanted to lie to you. But I don’t ever want our relationship to ever be based on lies. I want us to all be open and honest with each other, so we want you to always know you can come to us, you can talk, and we’re going to be as open and honest as we possibly can be.”

“I mean there’s a part of me that’s excited that I could have a more candid conversation with Grayson about certain things,” Todd told Julie later. “Then the flip side is I have to acknowledge that my baby is growing up, and that part I’m sad about.”

Chrisley Knows Best airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on USA Network.

Photo credit: Instagram/Todd Chrisley