Why Jelly Roll’s Wife Bunnie Xo Addressed His Cheating in Her Memoir

Some people might be surprised to read about Jelly Roll cheating on his wife in her memoir — but Bunnie Xo never considered glossing over that chapter in their marriage.

“I tried to be as real as possible with the situation,” Bunnie Xo, 46, exclusively told Us Weekly about her memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, which is out February 17. “I think I might have even toned it down.”

Bunnie Xo, who has been married to Jelly Roll, 41, since 2016, didn’t want to hold anything back, adding, “It’s just really important to be real. My husband is my best friend. I f***ing love that man — and we have been through hell.”

The content creator learned that “love isn’t always pretty.”

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Jelly Roll might consider himself the son of a sinner, but he’s found an angel in wife Bunnie XO. Following two stints in jail — Jelly Roll (real name Jason Bradley DeFord) was arrested for aggravated robbery at 16 and served one year before being incarcerated for drug dealing at the age of 23 — […]

“It’s raw, it’s emotional and it’s a journey,” she added. “I’m so happy for people who have never had to go through anything traumatic in their relationships. But I just feel like my husband and I had to go through that because it’s part of our testimony. It’s a part of what we’ve survived — we choose to be together every day.”

After Jelly Roll became a household name in the country music scene, he used his platform to candidly address topics in his life such as incarceration, addiction and past challenges in his marriage.

“One of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair on my wife,” the singer admitted during an October 2025 episode of the “Human School” podcast. “Because it was the first time that I was like, ‘I really can’t get this right at all. I know I’m in love with this woman.’ It just really, really, really blew me back.”

Jelly Roll confessed that he put in “a lot of work to repair” their connection, which led to them being “stronger than we could have ever been,” saying, “I wish our story would’ve went in the way that it never had an affair. I’m proud of who we are today. I truly am.”

While speaking to Us, Bunnie Xo recalled how “hard” it was to move on from the “betrayal.”

“I don’t think anybody can just snap out of it. It is a process. You’re literally grieving and you’re heartbroken but you’re still in love with this person. Even though the affair is a part of the book, it’s not our story,” she explained. “It’s literally what catapulted us into who we are today and I think that readers need to definitely consume it, chew on it and think about it. But they also see what we’ve made from that entire situation. It completely changed who we are as humans and how we looked at love.”

Bunnie Xo continued: “We didn’t know how to love each other properly. We both were raised in opposite households but weren’t taught how to love correctly. A lot of that gets brushed over [but] as a child, he wasn’t taught how to love properly and I wasn’t taught how to love or receive love.”

Related: Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo, More Couples Who Stayed Together After Affairs

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Bunnie Xo made it clear that her and Jelly Roll are “more than the affair.” Stripped Down allowed her the chance to shine a light on her life like she has never done before.

“I am very vocal online and I have [my ‘Dumb Blonde’ podcast] where I have people tell their stories. But the crazy thing is that nobody really knows my life story. They know bits and pieces that I’ve allowed them to know, but nobody knows the full story,” she told Us. “It was very cathartic looking back and seeing all that I had overcome. But I never stopped to really think about it. It was really awesome to be able to look back and be like, ‘Man, I made it through this.’ It was definitely therapeutic and cathartic.”

Before Stripped Down‘s release, Bunnie Xo gave her husband an early copy.

“He’s reading it now. As I was writing the chapters, I would tell him, ‘Do you want me to send the book to you?’ And he’s like, ‘No, I just want to read it when it comes out. Tell your truth.’ My husband has never stifled my creativity,” she gushed. “That’s one thing I love about my husband. He’s been my No. 1 supporter.”

Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic is out February 17.