Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s nearly decade-long marriage is ending, and the timing has fans doing a double take. The divorce was filed in Williamson County, Tennessee on May 18, according to court records, with TMZ reporting that the petition lists May 9 as the separation date and cites “irreconcilable differences.”
The filing lands just months after Jelly Roll, whose real name is Jason DeFord, publicly praised Bunnie, real name Alisa DeFord, at the 2026 Grammy Awards. After winning Best Contemporary Country Album, he said, “I want to thank my beautiful wife. I would have never changed my life without you. I would have ended up dead or in jail. I would have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus. I thank you for that.”
Their story started in Las Vegas. The two met at one of Jelly Roll’s shows in 2015, got engaged onstage in 2016, then secretly married that same night in a courthouse ceremony. In 2023, they returned to Las Vegas to renew their vows, making this split hit even louder because their redemption-love-story brand had been built in public.
Still, the marriage had already survived a cheating scandal that both later discussed openly. In October, Jelly Roll called his affair early in the marriage “one of the worst moments of my adulthood.” On the “Human School” podcast, he said, “I wish our story would’ve went in the way that it never had an affair, and I’m in way glad it happened, but man, I’m proud of who we are today. I truly am.”
Bunnie later shared her side in her 2026 memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic,” revealing Jelly Roll cheated for 10 months in 2018. “A lot of people… are like, ‘Why didn’t you leave?’ And I’m like, ‘I did leave.’ I did leave him and we were split for about 30 days,” she told PEOPLE in January. “But I just loved that man so much that I just really, truly believe that he deserved a second chance.”
She also clarified their views on monogamy, writing that their motto was “that we aren’t each other’s possessions and consider our relationship to be free, not open.” Meanwhile, Jelly told PEOPLE in 2024 that his “world shrunk” when he focused on Bunnie, adding, “I prioritize family, and that’s what anchors me down. Everything that I believe going right for me is in the fact that I’m pretty grounded in my family.”
The couple had also been discussing IVF and hopes for children through surrogacy. “I think we’re just ready for a piece of us,” Bunnie told the outlet. “It has not been easy, but I know that God has a plan and he’s going to make it work. I really do. I have no doubt in my mind.”
Now, the divorce filing turns one of country music’s most public love stories into a very public unraveling.
