Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO at the 2024 CMT Music Awards held at the Moody Center on April 7, 2024 in Austin, Texas.
Jelly Roll and his wife, Bunnie XO, have been married for eight years, and they have had quite the whirlwind romance.
After meeting in 2015, Jelly, whose real name is Jason Bradley DeFord, explained that the now-podcaster reached out to him, and they began dating. Within a year, Jelly popped the question, and the two were married that same night in Las Vegas.
Since then, the couple has been transparent about their open relationship, and in June, Jelly and Bunnie announced on an episode of her “Dumb Blonde Podcast” that they’re trying to have a baby via IVF.
“God Willing — Baby DeFord 2026,” Bunnie wrote in an Instagram post.
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Here's a look back at Jelly and Bunnie's love story.
How did Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO meet?
Jelly and Bunnie met when she went to Las Vegas Country Saloon where he was performing in 2015, he wrote on Instagram in 2022. The two have been open about Bunnie working as an escort when they met.
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In a 2020 podcast interview on “King and the Sting and the Wing Clips,” Jelly recalled that Bunnie had been in an abusive relationship at the time.
“They split and I’m not gonna act like I shot my shot. She shot hers,” he said. He explained that they had mutual friends, and when Bunnie and her previous boyfriend broke up, she’d reached out to him.
Jelly said Bunnie offered to let him stay at her Las Vegas home while he was in town for a shoot — he had been living out of his van at the time — and the rest is history.
When did Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO get married?
“We got married kind of randomly,” Jelly said in the “King and the Sting and the Wing Clips” podcast interview. He popped the question in 2016 during a Yelawolf and Deftones concert in Las Vegas and then tied the knot that same night.
“It was Vegas, right? So it’s like 11 o’clock. They’re closing the joint down... and I’m like ... Let’s just go now,'" he recalled, adding that the courthouse was closing in around 45 minutes.
In an April 2021 episode of Bunnie's podcast, they recalled getting married at the end of August 2016 after a yearlong whirlwind.
“I just think when you know, you know,” Bunnie said. “But the thing is, when you get married that early, you also have to learn each other. You got to go through the growing pains together, man.”
She added that the first years were “a rodeo.”
“You’re going to hang on because you guys don’t really know each other ... figuring everything out and you hop into the frying pan (with) hot grease, but it’s so worth it in the end,” she said.
Later in the same podcast, the couple revealed they are huge proponents of couples therapy.
“You know, we went through it, we figured it out, and we’re better than ever now,” Bunnie said.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO are in an open relationship
Jelly and Bunnie have spoken publicly about their open relationship, meaning they've consented to romantic relationships with others while married.
"We allow each other to be who we want to be," Bunnie said in an April 2021 episode of their podcast. "If I want to sleep with another guy, I can go sleep with another guy. Like, that's not a problem."
Bunnie XO has been open about her experience in the sex work industry
In March, Bunnie reflected on the one year milestone since retiring from the sex work industry.
“Awww a year ago I retired from the SW (sex work) industry,” she wrote in a post. “I was SO scared to let go of that part of my life & leave behind the money I was making — wasn’t sure how I’d make up that part of my business. But I had faith & let God have it & he made sure I made it back 10 fold.”
Bunnie, who shut down her Only Fans in 2023, clarified in a later post that fans “seemed to be confused” about how she could have retired from the industry after being married for seven years.
“I have always worked & made money on my own, when I married J (Jelly Roll) I refused to give up my independence & rely solely on him,” she said. “And to be honest he never once asked me to. He knew how important it was to me to make my own money. But he did always say, ‘One day baby you won’t have to do this anymore.’”
She added that she started her own Bunnie brand in 2018, which she funded with the money she’d made in sex work, which she began to put aside 2020.
“So I decided to retire & 100% immerse myself into the Bunnie Xo brand in 2023. Best decision I ever made. The rest is history baby!” she added.
Bunnie XO is a stepmother to Jelly Roll's 2 children
Jelly is dad to two children from previous relationships. His oldest, a teen daughter named Bailee, was born in 2008.
Jelly has custody of Bailee, and she often appears on his and Bunnie's social media accounts.
His younger son, Noah, from another previous relationship, is rarely seen. Bunnie has explained that they try to keep the now-8-year-old out of the spotlight to respect his and his mother's privacy.
Bunnie XO and Jelly Roll are trying for a baby
In June, Jelly and Bunnie announced on an episode of the "Bussin' With The Boys" podcast that they were trying to have a baby together using IVF.
“My wife and I are talking about having a baby and it really made me realize at almost 40, I was like, that means I gotta live to at least 60,” Jelly Roll said during the conversation. “I gotta see this kid into college.”
Bunnie wrote over the video, “We had planned on doing this privately, but decided our IVF journey needed to be shared because we’ve always been so open. And w/all odds stacked against us, it’s already been hard & we have only just begun.
“We have been meeting with IVF doctors & exploring all our options to add to our family,” she continued. “J and 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 w/Bailee and Noah.”
Bunnie captioned the clip, “God Willing — Baby DeFord 2026.”
This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:
