From dawn bar-hopping to Bunnie's makeout sesh with Jelly Roll's ex,
this ain't your grandfather's relationship. Here's
what we know about the private life of Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo.
Although people on the Internet have often accused Bunnie Xo of being with Jelly Roll for his money,
the reality is much different. Back when she met her would-be husband, whose real name is Jason
DeFord, there was no gold to dig. After all, the "Need A Favor" singer was struggling to get by.
"Living in, like a '97 high-top Southern Comfort van and was, like ass broke when I met her."
At the time, the pair had both been in unhealthy relationships. So,
as Jelly Roll told Taste of Country, their relationship was built on the
fact that neither of them was putting up a front. The country singer told the outlet:
"I felt her soul. When I hugged her,
I could just feel the genuineness of her. I could tell it wasn't an act."
When Jelly Roll met Bunnie Xo, she was making a very good living for herself,
which further dismisses any gold digger claims. While Jelly Roll was a small-time
artist raking in a few hundred bucks per show, Bunnie Xo was making tens of
thousands of dollars a night as a sex worker. She confessed on her "Dumb Blonde Podcast":
"Literally, I would make $30,000 — $40,000 a night. I had sugar daddies who gave me
half a million dollars. I've had cars bought for me ... diamonds,
[and] jewelry. Just, whatever you can think of."
Once Jelly Roll stepped into her life, however,
Bunnie Xo left the world of sex work behind. She largely did this because Jelly roll's daughter,
Bailee Ann DeFord, was now in her care. Additionally,
Bunnie Xo never hid any details about her past from her future husband. As a result,
Jelly Roll embraced her with open arms, seeing as he had his own shortcomings. While speaking
to "Bertcast" about what it was like to first learn of his wife's past, Jelly Roll revealed:
"I didn't understand the concept. I was a f—ing old Southern crack dealer. Kid
that's trying to be a rockstar. You know and I'm just like, 'I don't understand this.'"
He then added:
"But I didn't have a problem with it."
In the beginning of Jelly Roll's relationship with Bunnie Xo, the couple popped pills and
snorted cocaine. During his appearance on "Bertcast," Jelly Roll recalled:
"The difference between me and her was, she was wild. The [probably] first five interactions we
had at casinos, she was feeding me just nails of cocaine. And then at the end of the night,
I'd be like, 'Got a Xanax?' And she'd be like, 'Yep!'"
For Bunnie Xo, taking Xanax wasn't something she did casually. In fact, she even got hooked
on the pharmaceutical and overdosed. It finally took the love of her late mother for Bunnie to
kick her addiction. In an April 2020 episode of her "Dumb Blonde Podcast," she revealed:
"The one reason I respect my mom so much is because there
was a time in my life when I was super addicted to Xanax [...] and
I would call my mom when I finally made the conscious decision to get off of it."
Bunnie also added that her addiction had gotten in the way of her friendships.
Contrary to the public's perception, Bunnie Xo was the one who made a move
on Jelly Roll. Jelly Roll said on "The Golden Hour" podcast:
3 "We had mutual friends. So, she was like,' Yo, just plug me in with Jelly,' and I hit her on
some other sh--. I was like, 'Yo, I'm [trying to] come out there and shoot some content.'"
As he later went on to explain, their wedding was an impromptu adventure. At a Yelawolf and
Deftones show, Jelly Roll went down on one knee as the crowd watched. He popped the question,
and she said yes. The fact that midnight was approaching didn't stop the lovebirds
from taking the plunge the same night. By the crack of dawn, they were Mr. and Mrs. DeFord.
It was Bunnie Xo's third marriage, as she explained on her podcast. The first time she
got hitched, it was to help her then-husband escape incarceration. The stunt didn't work,
and he ended up serving jail time. Their marriage lasted six months. Her second marriage made it
to the five-year mark, except Bunnie Xo got tired of bringing home the bacon while her
spouse made no effort. Her marriage to Jelly Roll, however, proved that the third time was a charm.
The marriage between Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo is open
to third parties. While speaking to 247HH in 2018, the singer admitted:
"My wife and I openly invite women into our relationship. It's kind of a thing. I think
it's cool because we're like Beauty and the Beast anyway. I'm like this super fat,
ugly dude, she's like this bombshell blonde."
The couple's unconventional relationship is not without its set of laws, however.
Bunnie Xo explained on her "Dumb Blonde Podcast": "We allow each other to be who we want to be.
If I wanna sleep with another guy, I can go sleep with another guy."
Additionally, group hookups are restricted to women only.
"I feel like, bringing another dude into the situation, that's
a lot of testosterone and just… it's weird."
"Yeah." When the
DeFords got custody of Jelly Roll's daughter, Bailee Ann DeFord, Bunnie Xo quickly switched
to parenting mode. Although the ex-escort shunned her past to begin a successful podcast,
her brand stays raunchy. Similarly, Jelly Roll is no saint on social media,
and the parents of his daughter's playmates have caught on. Jelly Roll told Taste of Country:
"These friends' mothers will let Bailee play with their children, but won't let their
children come to my house. That's where they draw the boundary. They're like, 'Aaah! Nope! His wife
dresses [provocatively] and he publicly drinks and smokes pot. You're not going over there.'"
In March 2018, Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo went their separate ways for a while. An emotional
Bunnie Xo took to the internet to share the devastating news with her YouTube audience:
"It's been hard and, you know, for the best. And, I'm not gonna talk about why we're separated.
He has his version, I have my version, but hopefully one day we'll be able to be friends."
Luckily, the pair's break up didn't last very long. A trip to Vail,
Colorado helped them patch things up, after which Jelly Roll was more than ready to get
back on track again. The country singer said in a video posted to Bunnie's YouTube channel:
"I love you bubble bear. I'm sorry for being an a-- hole more often than not. I missed you
so [...] much. Let's get back to kicking a--." Whenever Jelly Roll was on tour, he and his wife
would often find themselves bar hopping at daybreak. During quarantine, however,
things slowed down. This meant that the couple had time to kill — a lot of time to kill. During
lockdown, their mornings started at midday, which is when they usually woke up. Then, after getting
out of bed, they'd eat a meal together. On her "Dumb Blonde Podcast," Bunnie admitted:
"J and I are so scheduled, that we wake up at a certain time. He always wakes up
before me and then I get up about an hour after him ...We wake up at twelve now."
In November 2022, the DeFord family was hit by the loss of
two family members. Through Twitter, Jelly Roll shared,
"I got the call that my nephew was killed the same day I headlined red rocks — still put on
a show — seen my nephew in a casket the same day I played Rome River Jam and still rocked it. Took my
wife to say her final goodbyes to her mother and still rocked Estero Florida last night."
Bunnie Xo's biological mother had walked out of her life when she was barely a toddler.
The better part of her childhood was spent in the care of her dad, and later her stepmother.
"The coolest story I could tell people is that I was raised by a single dad."
It wasn't until more than two decades later that Bunnie reconnected with
her birth mother through the internet. She said on her "Dumb Blonde Podcast":
"She found me, um I think, and she popped up on my screen one time and was like,
'Hey, this is your mom.' I was like 'Oh f--- your yourself.'"
Regardless of the hostile introduction, the pair got to meet and keep in touch via
social media. When her mother passed away, Bunnie Xo was heartbroken. She
expressed the difficulty of losing her mom in a heartfelt Instagram post, writing in part,
"Love you Mama, see you on the other side." In October 2019, Bunnie Xo announced on
Facebook that she would be removing her breast implants. She wrote in her post:
"Am I scared? Yes. Nervous? Absolutely. But [I'm going to] rock it."
The podcaster went on to reveal that she was so self-conscious in the early part
of her relationship with Jelly Roll that it took an entire year for him to see her
without makeup. So, when she decided to have her breast implants removed,
Bunnie documented the entire process on YouTube.
"It's time and it's a new chapter in my life that I need to close and
opening a new chapter of my life."
While sharing the experience with her fans, Bunnie's audience was also exposed to Jelly
Roll's affectionate side. The country singer was beside his wife on the way to the hospital,
offered her a shoulder to lean on when she was overwhelmed with emotion,
and waited while she had the two-and-a-half-hour procedure done.
Bunnie Xo's implants would also make headlines for being moldy after she
posted them on TikTok in 2022. She later cited health concerns as the
reason for having her implants removed after more than a decade.
Jelly Roll has his wife to thank for his life taking a different,
more positive trajectory. As soon as Bunnie Xo came into the picture,
Jelly Roll's career took an upward turn. He went from working numerous shows for $200 at
the most to selling out arenas. With each stellar performance, Bunnie Xo rallies behind her spouse
on social media. In addition to capturing behind-the-scenes footage for her audience,
she also hypes things up before the start of his shows, and pens heartfelt reflections.
In October 2022, Jelly Roll's life as a performer came full circle.
That's when he returned to Las Vegas as an established artist. It was Bunnie Xo,
however, who bore the weight of the moment. She wrote on Instagram:
"I left this city 7 years ago shattered & lost.. to chase a
dream w/ a man I knew for 30 days. To come back to the city that tried to
break me — healing & on our own terms is the most powerful feeling ever."
Jelly Roll and the mother of his daughter, Felicia, met in their teens. However,
their relationship was often rocky due to Jelly Roll's focus on work. Then,
right before their daughter Bailee was born in May 2008, Jelly Roll was imprisoned. His
relationship with Felicia hit an even rougher patch when he was released. As a result,
Jelly Roll couldn't see his daughter as much as he wanted to. However, the former heartthrobs have
since found a co-parenting system that works, and Jelly Roll now likens Felicia to a sister.
On the other hand, Bunnie Xo got a bit cozier with
Felicia. During a Q&A session on her podcast, she admitted,
"I think I made out with her one time."
According to Jelly Roll, things got steamy between the duo when they were intoxicated
one night. Although he wasn't present, he did get a hold of some video footage
of the moment that his wife recorded. Of course, Jelly Roll took it lightly.