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Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo turn prom night into a family affair with daughter Bailee Ann
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo got to live out a dream night at prom thanks to a surprise from Jelly Roll’s 17-year-old daughter, Bailee Ann, who set up the event ahead of the singer’s 41st birthday. Neither Jelly Roll nor Bunnie really went to their own high school proms.
Bunnie (Alyssa DeFord) posted a sentimental video on Instagram showing Bailee taking them by the hand and leading them to a prom-themed event space, where everyone was dressed up for the occasion.
“I learned a very significant lesson as a parent this week,” Bunnie wrote. “Bailee has always been against school dances. However, since J and I never went to ours, we’ve always encouraged her: ‘Go create memories. Go get the experiences that we didn’t.’”
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Bunnie Xo reminisces about emotional prom surprise from daughter Bailee Ann
Stepdaughter Bailee Ann’s prom night surprise had such an emotional impact on Bunnie Xo that she just had to share it with the world.
“This year has been really tough—schedules, mental health, burnout…all of it,” she admitted. “We’ve been keeping to ourselves, and we’re not really surprise people. So, when Bailee sent a text saying she had a surprise for us, I couldn’t keep it together. It was a total shock especially when we had already made a pact that there would be no surprises for J’s birthday. But we showed up for our girl anyway…even though our hearts were heavy.”
The 45-year-old woman also took time to think about how wonderful it was to realize that Bailee was thinking about her far more than she could see and that she just wanted to share that special night with her and Jelly Roll, who is also father to son Noah, 9, from a previous relationship.
Bunnie Xo shares a poignant moment from Bailee Ann’s “Under the Stars” prom surprise
Bunnie Xo reminisced about the time she and Jelly Roll entered a room packed with friends and family for a prom and birthday party Bailee Ann named “Under the Stars.”
“A prom/birthday party that she made up for us. She crowned us King and Queen, and we danced and sang like teenagers who finally got their moment,” Bunnie stated. “All because our baby wanted us to be happy. She didn’t spare a single detail and did it all by herself.”
After the experience, Bunnie reflected on what the surprise by Bailee taught her: “Time is the most valuable thing that we have. Use it with your people. The memories you create with them will be more than everything else.”
If you want to know more about the romantic adventures of Bunnie and Jelly Roll, keep reading.
How Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s love story began in Las Vegas
The love story of Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll started in August 2015 at the Las Vegas Country Saloon, a time before Jelly Roll got his fame. In fact, he was residing in a van and singing for about 20 people.
During the 2023 episode of the Bussin’ With The Boys podcast, Bunnie reflected on the moment when they met and their immediate bond: “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.’” She also said, “He’s not my type. I’m not his type. He loves Taylor Swift. That’s his type.”
The two of them didn’t go out together right away as Bunnie was still in a bad relationship and Jelly Roll was working on his own stuff, but they met again in October 2015, and Bunnie told that she was “just smitten.”
The Love Story of Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo
When Bunnie’s ex was sent to prison, she shared her number with Jelly Roll via a mutual friend. The artist would reach out to her by call or text whenever he needed advice relating to his daughter Bailee, whom he had with the ex
Their personal relationship went from friends to lovers in July 2016 when Jelly Roll was back in Vegas to shoot videos, and they met up, and it was more than just an overnight stay.
“We were like drunk out of our minds,” Bunnie remembered. “I was attempting to get it up, get it in, get it on, and get it out, and this guy was like, ‘What is your five-year plan?'”
They discussed their aspirations, and Bunnie recalled Jelly Roll saying, “Alright, fine. Let’s do it.”
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Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s wedding and shared journey
During Bussin’ With The Boys, Bunnie Xo revealed that she and Jelly Roll got hitched just a month after their love night, going to the Stained Glass Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas and getting married in August 2016. “We did the five-year plan. We literally went all the way through to the fifth year. The last thing was getting our own house,” she said.
It was one of Bunnie’s goals to start her own podcast. On The Howard Stern Show in June 2024, Jelly Roll remembered, “After she left the sex working industry, I’m sitting down with her and I’m like, ‘Well, what is it that you’re passionate about?’ She said, ‘I’d love to do some kind of a talk show.’”
Bunnie exited the sex work industry in 2019 and started the Dumb Blonde podcast in the same year. Besides that, she put money into Jelly Roll’s 2017 album Addiction Kills and supported him in the custody of his daughter, as she revealed on Sofia Franklyn’s Sofia with an F podcast.
Jelly Roll’s daughter Bailee Ann and his journey to fatherhood
Bailee, Jelly Roll’s daughter, came into this world in 2008 when he was put behind bars for drug dealing.
“It was my daughter that saved my life,” Jelly Roll revealed in his 2023 documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me. “She didn’t even know it.”
In the documentary, Bailee revealed that her father came into her life when she was 2 years old, at a time he was starting his music career and living in a van. Jelly Roll, however, confessed that he was a “very less-than-present father” at the beginning of the time and later, upon her mother’s battling addiction, he took it upon himself to seek full custody of Bailee.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s journey to family and healing
While Jelly Roll and Bunnie were only a short time together, he shared on Bussin’ With the Boys podcast that she did everything for the court case, paid for a lawyer and “bankrolled the whole s–t” to help with custody of Bailee.
The two of them looked again at their lives, and Bunnie said in the documentary, “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 gives us that right? I was just like, ‘This is it. I’m done here.’ And I literally never took a pill again.”
Also, Bunnie took on the role of a mother and wrote for Bailee’s Sweet 16 in 2024, “Thank you Papa Roll for giving me the chance to be the mom I never had. But most importantly—Thank you to the most adorable, sassiest 16 year old for teaching me the most healing life lessons ever these past 8 years & allowing me to be your mama.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s son Noah Buddy and family life
They had their son Noah Buddy, In August 2016, about a week before Jelly Roll and Bunnie got married and while he was looking for custody of Bailee.
After the birth of Noah, Jelly Roll wrote on Facebook: “God Bless this Child to be everything I am not!” “Noah Buddy DeFord! I pray that neither he nor Bailee will have to suffer because of their father’s sins.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie, on the other hand, are very protective of Noah’s life and only share a few bits and pieces from time to time. In July 2023, Bunnie shared a TikTok in which she asked Noah about his favorite sport (soccer) and beach activities (playing in the water), and in the comments, she mentioned that she had “always mama approved first.”
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Bunnie Xo and Jelly Roll are good co-parents with the mother of Noah
Bunnie and Jelly Roll are a couple who deeply value and respect the mother of their son, Noah. Bunnie, in a 2023 Facebook post, said: “She is a very strong and good person and we could not even think of our lives without her. She takes care of baby Noah and us, especially because we are always on the road.”
Bunnie, apart from that, also conveyed how happy she was with the role of stepmom to Noah. After one of Jelly Roll’s concerts in October 2024, she posted on Instagram, “Watching my bonus kids grow up is the most of the things I could be happy of. I am not one to get emotional but it is such a great honor just to be a part of this little boy’s life since the day he was born. I also thank his mama.”
Jelly Roll confesses to an affair during his marriage with Bunnie Xo but they got back together
After being married for two years, Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo filed for divorce. The duo didn’t disclose the reasons behind their split, but Jelly Roll in a viral interview made the shocking revelation that he cheated on his wife.
“I’ve never talked about this publicly, but it was really one of the worst moments of my adult life when I had an affair with my wife,” he shared on the October 2025 episode of the Human School podcast, “So, it was the first time I was like, ‘Man, I’m really doing this all wrong. I know I’m in love with this woman.’ It just really, really, really shocked me back.”
However, the two of them eventually made up and got back together in 2018 after deciding to save their relationship.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo on fixing their relationship after cheating
Jelly Roll revealed, “I went through a heap of work to fix that relationship. The fixing has been quite amazing, man. We are now more powerful than we ever could have been. I wish our tale had been a different way without the affair and I am definitely not happy that it happened, but, man, I am really proud of who we are now.”
The two lovers are still each other’s rock. Bunnie, in a TikTok video in February 2023, shared, “Who would have thought that us breaking up in 2018, me moving back to Vegas and you coming to get me would have taken us on this crazy journey called life. We finally became each other’s and did all the things that we had promised each other the very first night in 2016. Our castle in the sand had to fall so that we could rebuild on a firm foundation. I love you so much.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s red carpet debut at the 2022 CMA Awards
With the rise of Jelly Roll’s career, he and Bunnie decided to make their debut together on the red carpet at the 2022 CMA Awards.
In the documentary Jelly Roll: Save Me, Bunnie made a comparison of their family to that of the Addams and said, “We are like the Addams Family of the country era. We are not from this place, but we are here.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo renew vows after seven years of marriage
Seven years after their wedding, Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo renewed their vows in 2023.
Thinking of their first wedding, Bunnie remembered that Jelly Roll “grabbed my hands, looked me straight in the eyes, and 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.’
Bunnie also said in a September 2023 post, “The 7 years we had together were like a whirlwind dark fairytale. As lovers and friends, we did nothing that was easy. We fought to become the people we are, to break the childhood traumas we were ‘blessed’ with, and to love in a healthy way. To fix all our mistakes and to create a home where Bailee could grow up and be proud of.”
Finally, she said, “You are my missing puzzle piece. My safe place. The one who makes me dance in my feminine energy. My best friend, my hero, and the greatest man I’ve ever known. They don’t make ’em like you anymore Jason DeFord.”
Bunnie Xo is an artistic, visual, and lyrical muse for Jelly Roll’s works
Bunnie Xo is an inspiration for Jelly Roll and a source of light for songs like “Woman” and “Kill a Man.”
Jelly Roll, while talking to Entertainment Tonight about “Kill a Man,” said, “She’s the best, man. I have tried to write 1,000 love songs, and I thought that they were all a bit corny. Therefore I was like, ‘How do I write a love song, keep my manliness, and yet be able to totally open up to how in love I am?’”
Besides that, he said, “I don’t see any other woman in the world but her, and I wanted to write a song that was a reflection of that and that was vulnerable.”
Besides, the two of them appeared together in the music videos for “Wheels Fall Off” and “Lonely Road,” the latter featuring Machine Gun Kelly and Megan Fox.
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Bunnie Xo salutes Jelly Roll’s voyage and achievement
Bunnie Xo is Jelly Roll’s number one fan. She is always loud and proud of him, whether she is present in the show or watching from home.
After his 2024 CMT Music Awards, in a warm and emotional tribute she wrote, “My dear husband the visionary. The maestro of misfits. You are not an overnight success story, this has been 20 years in the making.”
She looked back on their passage with, “days where we thought no one was listening to the music, & nights that turned into filled arenas.”
“I saw you take your pain to the writing of a song and creating therapeutic hymns for the broken only to have these hymns be the ones that poured directly into their hearts,” she said. “Therapeutic music that heals the broken parts of their souls & even if just for that moment—they know they are understood & seen.”
The Mutual Support of Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s is an Inspiration to the Whole Stellar Fan Group
One of the things that most touched fans, and they are constantly, was their very total and absolute commitment to each other.
“Papabear, you singing is healing you are like a heavenly choir.” Bunnie wrote. “I LOVE YOU IN THIS LIFETIME AND EVERY OTHER ONE, I AM LUCKY TO BE BY YOUR SIDE.”
Jelly Roll keeps on congratulating Bunnie with her milestones too. For their love celebration of 8 years, he posted, “I am so happy to see all that you have done through social media and with your podcast. You really being the source of inspiration to people, specially to women, is the reason, I cannot stop my heart from bursting with joy.”
Bunnie Xo defends Jelly Roll against online bullying
Bunnie Xo, the wife of Jelly Roll, didn’t mince her words. She criticized the nasty online comments that were made about his weight before he had lost over 200 pounds.
“My husband unplugged from the internet because he is so fed up with being bullied about his f–king weight,” she told the Dumb Blonde podcast in April 2024. “And this makes me want to cry because he is the sweetest angel baby.”
Even though Jelly Roll is not always the one to express it, Bunnie said the bullying puts him down. “Internet people can talk as much as they want and say, ‘You are a celebrity, you should be able to handle it.’ No, we are not.’”
She asked, “Please don’t bully people, because you do not know where they are mentally,” and promised, “I am sorry, but I am going to be the voice of the underdogs. You will never bully me. You will never tell lies about me and my family, and I will keep fighting until my last breath.”
Sharing of Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo their IVF Voyage
Jelly Roll and Bunnie have not only been practicing but have also been preaching this concept by showing their candidness in the process of bringing new lives into the world.
When Jelly Roll first dropped a hint that they might have a baby, Bunnie elaborated their procedure through a June 2024 Instagram post: “Originally, we had the intention to do this in private, but eventually, we thought it necessary to share our IVF journey as we have always been so open. And, with all the odds piled against us, it has already been tough, and we have only just started.”
They keep on believing in tomorrow notwithstanding the difficulties.
Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo reveal IVF and surrogacy plans
After a lighthearted-filled day of shooting content, Bunnie took a moment to post this on Instagram about Jelly and her path to parenthood. “We’re also meeting with the best IVF doctors and have started some tests. That’s how we found out about all those contraindications that make it impossible for me to carry our child. Before we even got to that part, we didn’t think they’d add to our family, but this year something changed and now we just both want an extra ‘us’ in addition to the already perfect family with Bailee and Noah,” she wrote.
Bunnie clarified in the March 2025 episode of her Dumb Blonde podcast, “That’s why we don’t have a surrogate for any other reason than I just can’t carry a baby in my belly. There is too much risk.”
