Celebrity3 min(s) read
Published 10:58 28 Jun 2026 GMT
Jelly Roll's ex-wife, Bunnie Xo, has opened up about the sacrifices she made during the early days of their relationship, revealing she relied on "sugar daddies" and sex work to help support the country star's career before he found fame.
The candid admission comes shortly after reports emerged that Jelly Roll had filed for divorce after nearly a decade of marriage.
Speaking on a recent episode of her Dumb Blonde Podcast, Bunnie Xo reflected on the couple's struggles before the Grammy-nominated singer became one of country music's biggest stars.
The podcast host pushed back against claims that she was independently wealthy when she first got together with Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord.
"When Jay and I first got together, we were two kids who literally had nothing," she explained.
"Everybody always likes to say that I had all the money when we first got together, and I did this for him and I did that for him. And I mean, I had sugar daddies at the time that were paying for all of this."
Bunnie went on to reveal the lengths she went to in order to help fund their lifestyle and support Jelly Roll's music career.
"We were still in the streets. We were making money as it came," she said.
"It wasn't like I was over here sitting on a million dollars and was taking care of him. I was turning tricks to pay our bills and to get lawyers and to travel and to go on tour and stuff like that."
The couple's relationship has long been viewed as one of country music's most enduring love stories, with Bunnie frequently speaking about standing by Jelly Roll during his struggles with addiction, incarceration, and his rise to fame.
However, she also revealed that the pair had faced growing challenges in recent years.
According to Bunnie, communication between the couple began to break down over the last year and a half.
"We stopped communicating together in the past year and a half," she said.
"And I think that it's safe for me to say that I always loved my husband a little bit more than he loved me."
She continued: "I was always protecting him and always making sure he was okay and always chasing him. I literally was the glue that held us together."
The emotional comments come after reports that Jelly Roll filed for divorce in Tennessee in May, citing irreconcilable differences.
Court documents reportedly list the couple's date of separation as May 9.
While neither has publicly addressed the filing in detail, Bunnie's latest comments have offered fans a rare glimpse into the realities of the couple's relationship long before fame, awards, and sold-out arenas became part of their lives
