Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo. | Source: Getty Images
Bunnie Xo's life and career are too multifaceted for her only to be known as Jelly Roll's wife. The pair survived a public breakup and came out on the other side more loving and supportive of each other.
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Bunnie Xo likes to say that she has built her empire with all the bricks thrown at her. Her 3.1 million TikTok followers bolster that empire, including 233K YouTube subscribers, 817K Facebook followers, and 903K engaged fans on Instagram as of January 2023.
The podcaster and Instagram model has been with her country crooner husband since he was living in a van. The couple bought their first home together in 2020, where they live with his daughter, who calls her mama.
Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll attend The 56th Annual CMA Awards at Bridgestone Arena on November 9, 2022, in Nashville, Tennessee. | Source: Getty Images
Bunnie Xo Had a Traumatic Childhood
Alyssa Bunnie DeFord was born on January 22, 1980, in Houston, Texas. Between the ages of five and 12, she lived a rock 'n roll lifestyle with her family headed by her alcoholic musician father, Bill, in Las Vegas. It was not a child-friendly environment.
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Bill and her stepmother radically changed their stance when she was 12, becoming religious, banning secular music and content with a rating higher than G. Though her stepmom taught her valuable life lessons, she was verbally and physically abusive.
Her father taught her how to fight after she was "jumped by three girls," as he did not want his daughter to lose a fight again. Over two weeks, he taught her the basics of tussling in their backyard.
As an angry child who was not heard at home, Bunnie Xo got into scuffles at school, which got her kicked out of multiple private and public schools. In her first year in high school, when she was 14, Bunnie Xo left her father's house and never returned.
She has a good relationship with Bill now, evening admiring the octogenarian for dating a woman then years younger than her. He has made multiple visits to her podcast. She took her husband's last name DeFord.
In October 2019, she launched a series on YouTube about removing her breast implants, sharing her research and fears. She decided to do the explant because her DD-E cups were too big for her frame, and she felt they belonged to another time of her life.
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Celebrities like Sharon Osbourne, child star Mary McDonough, and Michelle Visage have spoken out about the dangers and complications they experienced with their breast implants, with the latter two stars removing them.
On August 2, 2022, Bunnie Xo spoke about her November 2020 explant on TikTok, labeling it the best decision she had ever made.
All her adverse symptoms disappeared, but she still struggles with anxiety. The podcaster is much more confident with her "naturals," encouraging women to seek help if they are having trouble.
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Bunnie Xo Doesn't Want to Be Just a Musician's Wife
Being referred to as Jelly Roll's wife drives the podcaster crazy, which is why she works so hard to build her own Bunnie Xo brand.
On a podcast in August 2022, the former sex worker said that she did not want to glamorize the lifestyle as it had its darker moments, but she made a lot of money doing it.
Growing up in Vegas, all her friends became dancers by the time they turned 18, but due to her "religious trauma," she tried to have a "moral compass" and get a regular job. She barely made a living dabbling in real estate and waitressing.
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At 18, a dancer friend saw her paycheck and said she could make that much in two weeks. Not long after, a boyfriend cheated on her with a stripper, and she felt that she could do whatever that woman was doing but better.
Her first shift did not go well, and she only returned to the club three years later. Bunnie Xo was a stripper for 11 years and did other sex work. She was still "in the game" when she got together with Jelly Roll, though he did not judge her.
Like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield, the model successfully built her brand, leveraging the 'dumb blonde' trope. Her podcast "Dumb Blonde" holds a 4,9 rating on Apple Podcasts, where the "trailer park Barbara Walters" interviews celebrities, infamous internet personalities, and family members.
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Jelly Roll and His Wife's Love Story
The country crooner was "dead broke" and calling an old van home when he met Bunnie Xo, who resided in a Vegas penthouse with a sports car. The pair met backstage at one of his shows in 2015 at LVCS (Las Vegas Country Saloon) on Fremont Street.
Bailee posts a tribute on her stepmother's 2022 birthday, calling her "mama," an idol and mentor...
The "Son of a Sinner" crooner and Bunnie Xo reconnected via mutual friends, and she invited him to crash on her couch while he shot content in Las Vegas. The second night he was sleeping in her bed. They had just come out of toxic relationships, the singer shared on Insta, trying to find their way in life.
"Jimmy Kimmel Live!" guest host Chelsea Handler, musical guest Jelly Roll, and Bunnie Xo on June 28, 2022. | Source: Getty Images
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The "Dead Man Walking" singer freely admitted on a podcast, "I married up, and I'm so proud of myself." The duo got married in the courthouse after his concert at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas, just before midnight in August 2016.
Bunny Xo shared her heartbreak on July 13, 2018, in "The Breakup Vlog." Surrounded by moving boxes, the internet personality declined to go into the details of their breakup, saying they both had their version and hoped they could one day be friends.
The power couple has reconciled, buying a home together in 2020. Celebrating their sixth wedding anniversary in 2022, the model thanked her husband for giving her a family when hers were "extremely toxic and broken."
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Bunnie Xo's Relationship with Her Stepdaughter
When his daughter Bailee Ann was born on May 22, 2008, Jelly Roll was in prison and pledged to turn his life around for her. He and Bunny Xo got custody of the child in 2016.
Bailee posted a tribute on her stepmother's 2022 birthday, calling her "mama," an idol and mentor, "I love you to the moon & back always (sic)." The podcaster responded with a crying emoji, saying, "I'm so lucky to have you."
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A few days before his daughter's birthday in 2020, the singer shared a family photo of him, Bailee, and his wife. He praised Bunnie Xo for being the special kind of woman who can raise another person's child as her own with love.
Jelly Roll does not post about his younger son as often "out of respect for [the child's] mother and her privacy." His son saw him live for the first time at his hometown show in Ryman Auditorium in 2021. The "Save Me" star is very close to his family, particularly his siblings and cousins.
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