The Chrisleys are coming together for a fun-filled and heartwarming Peacock special, Chrisley Knows Thanksgiving. The special features Julie Chrisley teaching her kids how to cook her Thanksgiving recipes, and there’s a little family competition involved. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Todd Chrisley and Julie about their holiday plans and the family going head-to-head in the kitchen.
“Well, our family is fiercely competitive, which we all love. It’s about who’s going to be the best helper in the kitchen, who’s going to step up to the plate and be able to fill those shoes one day,” Julie told HollywoodLife.
Todd and Julie both agreed that the Chrisley kid who could take over Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners right now is Savannah Chrisley. “I would say Savannah is probably the best at it right now because Savannah is great in the kitchen,” Julie revealed. “She’s a good cook. She’s a good baker. Chase enjoys cooking as well, so I would say probably Chase and Savannah are the ones that are most interested at the moment. But Chloe loves to be in the kitchen with me too. So I think it’s kind of a toss-up, but they’re all super excited that we’re doing our traditional Thanksgiving and that they can be a part of that.”
While Julie is all about Thanksgiving, Christmas is #1 in Todd’s eyes. “Christmas is like a huge thing for me because I’m a huge gift giver,” Todd told HollywoodLife. “I want to see my kids happy, and I want to see the people around me happy. I truly believe that God has blessed us in so many ways in our life. Even in the times when we were questioning, where are the blessings? When are the blessings coming? They were already there. We just didn’t see it yet. So I think Christmas is a huge thing for me.”
However, Todd loves to enjoy Julie’s cooking no matter what holiday it is. He revealed his favorite dishes that Julie makes and noted that Julie is quite in-demand around the holidays.
“I love Julie’s cornbread dressing and turkey gravy,” Todd said. “That’s the recipe that she got from my mother. I love my mother’s coconut sheet cake, but Julie’s carrot cake will go down in history. I mean, so many millions of fans have made this cake now and some with great success, some not so great. But it’s in the community and in our friend group. People literally will message her, wives of famous musicians and whatever, and say, ‘Julie, can I please pay you to make the carrot cake for us for Christmas.’ Julie ends up making during Christmas probably 50 or 60 of these carrot cakes.”
For Julie, cooking around the clock is no big deal at all. “I love doing it. I truly believe it’s my love language,” she gushed. “I love to see people enjoy what I love to do. I love to cook. I’m making some dressing for a few folks this week actually that have just been wanting it. So I’m like, sure, what’s another pan of dressing?”
Don’t expect Todd to be in the kitchen, even around the holidays. “I have never cooked a meal in my life,” Todd confessed. “I would love to tell you that I can make a great steak, I make a great hamburger… I can’t make sh*t. I can’t tell you anything that I could cook.”
This holiday season, the Chrisleys are cherishing the time they get to spend with one another. Julie is well aware of what her family loves during the holidays, and she’s going to make sure they are content at the dinner table. “My family, and especially my husband, is a creature of habit. I don’t venture out very much on Thanksgiving because they have all these favorites that they love. So I just kind of do what I know that they’re going to be happiest with,” Julie told HollywoodLife.
The Chrisleys are spreading even more holiday cheer in December. Their special A Very Chrisley Christmas will air December 15 at 9:30 p.m. on NBC. Chrisley Knows Best airs Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. on USA, and Chrisley Knows Thanksgiving is now streaming on Peacock and will air November 25 on USA.