Two years before Chrisley Knows Best hit television screens, Julie Chrisley was dealing with another life-changing moment. She underwent a double mastectomy after being diagnosed with breast cancer. And she can thank her husband, Todd, for helping her get the medical attention she needed.

In an interview with the Nashville Tennessean, Julie revealed she went in for a mammogram at 39 because Todd kept nagging her. Two of Todd’s friends had cancer at the time, and so he told Julie the two of them were going to get colonoscopies—and Julie needed to get a mammogram, even though doctors usually only recommend them once women turn 40, and Julie had no family history.

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Todd and Julie on Chrisley Knows Best.

But she went in for the test anyway. “I did it to appease him so he would shut up and leave me alone," she told the newspaper. Then came more imaging, then a biopsy, then a diagnosis of breast cancer. Todd searched for the best doctors in the country and wound up with Johns Hopkins in Maryland.

Julie decided to get a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, because she read about lower recurrence rates for patients who opted for mastectomies. But she said it was hard to transform her body through surgery, especially when she was around Todd.

She told the Tennesean she knew they were solid when he got in the shower and washed her hair post-surgery. “He never flinched,” she said. “I truly believe that moment took our relationship to a whole new level.”