Proof Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO Will Be There for Each Other ‘Til the Wheels Fall Off
As long as Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO have each other, they’ll never go down a lonely road.
But that doesn’t mean their journey has been easy.
“Nobody’s seen in us what we see in each other,” Jelly Roll said on a January episode of the Full Send Podcast, “and I think that’s what makes our love so special.”
After first meeting in Las Vegas back in 2015 and initially forming a friendship, the two gambled on each other—taking a shot at love and tying the knot in 2016.
“My wife at the time was an escort, a high-end escort, in Vegas,” the singer continued. “She grew up in Vegas. And at the time, I was [doing] $500 shows, living in that white van. I didn’t have a key to an apartment.”
Around this time, Jelly Roll was also seeking full custody of his now 16-year-old daughter Bailee amid her mother’s battle with addiction. What’s more, he was welcoming his son Noah with another ex.
"I have to sit Bunnie down and go, 'Look, I have a kid that you know about that I'm fixing to have to get full custody of,'" the country music star recalled on a June 2023 episode of Bussin' With The Boys. "There's also a woman out there that's pregnant with a kid of mine.'"
Still, Bunnie doubled-down on her support—helping Jelly Roll find a condo when he struggled to obtain one due to his past robbery and drug-related charges and paying for a lawyer in his fight for custody.
“I’ll never forget, Bunnie looked at me and, man it makes me emotional, she said, ‘No matter what happens with us, I’m gonna help you get this little girl,’” the musician added. “I was like, 'Man, what character.'"
The couple obtained custody of Bailee and continued to grow their future together. And while they experienced ups and downs—including a 2018 breakup and rekindling of their romance later that year—they continued to cheer each other on as they pursued their dreams. That they’re now very much a success story with Jelly Roll climbing charts with hits like "Need a Favor" and "I Am Not Okay" and Bunnie launching her Dumb Blonde podcast in 2019 continues to bewilder them.
“Sometimes I look at my husband and I’m like, ‘Who are we? What are we doing?’” the podcaster told Entertainment Tonight in August. “Because I remember eight years ago, we were in Vegas dreaming about this. And now, we’re living it.”
As Bunnie and Jelly Roll continue to bet on each other, keep reading to learn more about their love story.
Bunnie XO and Jelly Roll's love story began in Las Vegas.
As she recalled on Bussin' With The Boys, she met the singer in August 2015 when he performed at the Las Vegas Country Club. This was before Jelly Roll was famous. At the time, he was living in a van, and he estimated about 20 people were at the show.
Instead, their spark took center stage.
"When I met him, I tell everybody it's the most f--king cliché s--t, but literally my soul was like, 'There you are,'" Bunnie said on the podcast in 2023. "And he's not my type. I'm not his type. He loves Taylor Swift. That's his type."
Still, a romance didn't form right away. Bunnie was in an unhealthy relationship, she continued, and Jelly Roll was doing his own thing. But in October 2015, they reconnected. And as Bunnie put it, she was "just smitten."
After her ex went to prison, she added, she told a friend to give Jelly Roll her phone number. Bunnie said the musician would call and text her for advice on his daughter Bailee from a previous relationship.
However, Bunnie noted her bond with Jelly Roll shifted from platonic to romantic in July 2016 when he returned to Vegas to film some videos and they slept together.
"We're like s--t-faced drunk," she remembered. "I'm trying to get it up, get it in, get it on and get it out, and this guy was like, 'What's your five-year plan?'"
So, they discussed their goals, and Bunnie recalled Jelly Roll saying, "OK, cool. Let's do it."
And they did.
"We got married a month later," Bunnie added on Bussin' With The Boys, sharing she wed Jelly Roll at Las Vegas' Stained Glass Wedding Chapel in August 2016, "and f--kin we did the five-year plan. Literally finished it all the way through to the fifth year. The last thing was buying our own house."
Another one of Bunnie's goals was to launch her own podcast.
"When she came out of the sex working industry, I'm sitting down with her and I'm like, 'Well, what are you passionate about?' Jelly Roll said on The Howard Stern Show in June 2024. "She's like, 'I'd love to do some kind of a talk show.'"
Bunnie left the sex work industry in 2019 and debuted the Dumb Blonde podcast later that year. And she used the money she had made to help fuel Jelly Roll's dreams.
"I invested in his [2017] Addiction Kills album," Bunnie said on Sofia Franklyn's podcast Sofia with an F. "I helped him with that. He needed custody of his daughter, I helped him with that."
Jelly Roll's daughter Bailee was born in 2008.
At the time, he was in prison for drug dealing.
"My daughter saved my life," Jelly Roll said in his 2023 documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me. "She wasn't old enough to even know it."
Bailee said in the doc her dad entered her life when she was 2, when he was in the early stages of his music career and living in his van. And while Jelly Roll admitted he was a "very less-than-present father," at the time, that changed when he sought full custody of Bailee amid her mother's battle with addiction.
Though Jelly Roll and Bunnie were in the early stages of their romance, he revealed on the Bussin' With the Boys podcast that she paid for a lawyer and "bankrolled the whole s--t." The two also re-evaluated their lives.
"Who was I, us, to take her from her mom and bring her into our house if we're over here just popping pills and doing the same thing? What makes us better?" Bunnie said in the doc. "I was just like, 'This is it. I'm done.' And I literally never touched a pill again."
She also stepped into a maternal role.
"Thank you Papa Roll for giving me the chance to be the mom I never had," Bunnie wrote for Bailee's Sweet 16 in 2024. "But most importantly- Thank you to the sweetest, sassiest 16 year old for teaching me the most healing life lessons ever these past 8 years & letting me be your mama."
In August 2016—days before Jelly Roll and Bunnie wed and while he was seeking custody of Bailee—he welcomed son Noah.
"God Bless this Child to be everything I am not!" the "Need a Favor" artist wrote on Facebook after the birth. "Noah Buddy DeFord! I pray he nor Bailee ever have to pay for their father's sins."
Over the years, Jelly Roll and Bunnie have kept much of Noah's life private. However, they've shared a few glimpses into his world.
In July 2023, for instance, Bunnie posted a TikTok where she asked Noah questions like what's his favorite sport (soccer) and what does he like to do at the beach (play in the water)? Still, she made it clear she'd asked his mom for permission before posting the video, writing in the comments "always mama approved first."
In fact, Bunnie and Jelly Roll are on good terms with Noah's mother.
"She’s one stand up chick & we couldn’t imagine our lives without her," she wrote in a Facebook post, "she holds it down for baby Noah & us especially because we are on the road so much."
And Bunnie loves being his stepmom.
"Nothing brings me more joy then getting to watch my bonus babies grow up," she wrote on Instagram in October 2024 after Noah attended one of his dad's shows. "I’m not one to get emotional but just being in this little boy’s life since the day he was born is such a privilege. Thankful for his mama as well."
Two years after Jelly Roll and Bunnie wed, they separated. Still, their love couldn't keep them apart and they rekindled their romance later that year.
"Who knew that us breaking up in 2018, me moving back to Vegas & you coming to get me back - would have put us on this wild journey called life," Bunnie wrote on TikTok in February 2023. "We finally committed to each other & did everything we promised each other the first night in 2016. Our castle in the sand had to crumble so we could rebuild on solid ground. I yuh you so mushhh."
As Jelly Roll's star continued to rise, he and Bunnie walked their first red carpet together at the 2022 CMA Awards.
"We're like the Addams Family of the country era," she said in Jelly Roll: Save Me. "We don't belong here, but we're here."
In 2023, seven years after they first tied the knot, Jelly Roll and Bunnie renewed their vows.
Looking back at their first walk down the aisle, the podcaster recalled in a tribute how the Grammy nominee, "grabbed my hands & looked me straight in the eyes & said, 'Bunnie, our lives won’t always be like this. You won’t have to do what you do for much longer, we’re going to figure this out. I promise you.'"
And he made good on that promise.
"I had no idea what the world had in store for us, but I didn’t care as long as I had you by my side to conquer it," Bunnie added. "These past 7 years have been a whirlwind dark fairytale. Nothing we have accomplished as lovers & friends was easy. We fought to become the people we are, to break the childhood traumas we were 'blessed' with & learn to love in a healthy way. To right all our wrongs & create a home to raise Bailee in that she can be proud of. No matter what life has thrown our way we walked thru the fire together, hand in hand w/ a smile."
And they'll continue doing just that.
"You are my missing puzzle piece," Bunnie noted to Jelly Roll. "My safe space. The man that makes me dance in my feminine energy. My best friend, my hero & the greatest man I’ve ever known. They don’t make ‘em like you anymore Jason DeFord."
And they continue to live in harmony. In fact, Bunnie has inspired some of Jelly Roll's songs, including "Woman" and "Kill a Man" to name a few.
"She's the best, man," the country music star said while speaking about the latter track to Entertainment Tonight. "I have attempted to write 1,000 love songs, and I thought all of them were a little corny. So I was like, 'How do I write a love song and keep my manliness but I also can completely open myself to how in love I am?'"
He added, "I don't see any other woman on Earth but her, and I wanted to write a song that reflected that and was vulnerable."
Jelly Roll and Bunnie also co-starred in the music videos for "Wheels Fall Off" as well as "Lonely Road" featuring Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox.
Whether in the audience or at home, Bunnie is always cheering for Jelly Roll.
"My sweet husband the visionary. The maestro of misfits," she wrote in a tribute in honor of his 2024 CMT Music Awards. "You are not an overnight success story, this has been 20 years in the making."
That journey, Bunnie continued, has included "days where we thought no one was listening to the music, & nights that turned into filled arenas."
"I’ve watched you pour your soul into a pen & write therapeutic hymns for the broken only for those hymns to pour straight into their hearts," she added. "Therapeutic music that kisses the cracks of their souls & even if just for that moment- they kno they are understood & seen."
And their commitment to each other through it all is music to fans' ears.
"Papabear your voice is an instrument of healing & the world is your choir," Bunnie continued. "I LOVE YOU IN THIS LIFETIME & EVERY OTHER ONE IM LUCKY TO BE BY YOUR SIDE IN."
Of course, Jelly Roll roots Bunnie on, too.
"Watching what you have built on social media and with your podcast is amazing," he wrote in part of a message for their eight anniversary. "To see the way you inspire people especially other women makes my heart want to explode with joy."
But make no mistake, Bunnie XO isn't going to send hugs and kisses if you come for her man.
The social media star slammed hurfult online comments Jelly Roll received about his weight.
"My husband got off the internet because he's so tired of being bullied about his f--king weight," she said on an April 2024 episode of Dumb Blonde. "And that makes me want to cry because he is the sweetest angel baby."
And while Bunnie said Jelly Roll doesn't show how these comments affect him, she noted they do take a toll.
"The internet can say whatever the f--k they want about you, and they say, 'Well, you're a celebrity. You're supposed to be able to handle it,'" she continued. "No, the f--k we're not."
Bunnie then reminded listeners that this type of behavior is never OK.
"Don't bully people," she said, "because you never know where they are mentally."
And Bunnie made it clear she won't let bullies' remarks slide.
"I'm sorry, I'm going to stand up for all the f--king underdogs," she noted. "You're never gonna bully me. You're never gonna lie about me and my family, and I'm going to fight 'til the end."
Jelly Roll and Bunnie have been open about their efforts to grow their family.
After the "Son of a Sinner" star revealed they've discussed having a baby, his wife shared the steps they've taken.
"We had planned on doing this privately, but decided our IVF journey needed to be shared because we've always been so open," Bunnie wrote in a June 2024 Instagram post, "And w/ all odds stacked against us, it's already been hard & we have only just begun."
Still, they remain hopeful.
"We have been meeting w/ IVF doctors & exploring all our optinos to add to our family," she continued. "J & I are SO excited & scared all at the same time. We genuinely never thought we'd want to add to our family but something changed this year & we both just want a piece of us together to add to our already perfect family with Bailee & Noah."
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