Jelly Roll has undergone a huge physical transformation in recent years.
The country singer, 41, has lost nearly 300 pounds, dropping from his heaviest weight of 540 pounds to around 265 pounds, while also trimming his signature beard.
After a series of alarming health warnings, he transformed his health by overhauling his diet and committing to daily movement, announcing in January that he felt like a ‘whole different human’ after his weight loss.
But while the singer is enjoying his glow-up era, it comes amid his divorce from his wife of nearly 10 years, Bunnie Xo, real name Alisa DeFord.
The Grammy winner filed for divorce from Bunnie, 46, last month in Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
Just like his relationship with the podcaster, his journey to his slimmed-down physique hasn’t been smooth sailing.
Inside Jelly Roll’s pre-divorce glow-up that saw him lose 300lbs before splitting from Bunnie Xo (pictured with his ex-wife-to-be in January)
The country singer, 41, has lost nearly 300 pounds, dropping from his heaviest weight of 540 pounds to around 265 pounds (pictured in 2022)
Jelly Roll, real name Jason DeFord, previously shared on The Bobby Bones Show that his mother gave him the nickname Jelly Roll because he was a ‘chubby kid.’
‘I’ve been fat my whole life,’ he said. ‘She started calling me Jelly Roll when I was young, and I spent the next 20 years trying to grow into the name.’
In 2018, the singer revealed on Instagram that he lost 200 pounds in under two years, but had gained 60 of them back.
‘TODAY is the day I start over,’ the singer wrote. ‘All I’ve ever known was being fat, and I’m f***ing miserable.
‘I wanna sky dive, bungee jump, ride a bull, parasail, ride roller coasters, I want to LIVE a normal life and have a normal relationship with food.’
But it wasn’t until 2022 that he experienced a wake-up call to change his trajectory after facing multiple heart issues and extremely high insulin levels.
He said at the time that his goals for the following year were to focus on his health and ‘conquer the demon’ that was his weight.
At his heaviest, Jelly weighed 540 pounds.
Recalling the moment he knew things had to change, he said during an appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast: ‘It was right around my 39th birthday that I started really considering taking this step to try to make a major chance in my life.
‘I could feel myself dying,’ he said.
‘It felt like I’d already cheated the game,’ he added. ‘I’d had multiple heart issues, and I was like, ‘Man, I should really start trying to figure this out.’
From that moment, Jelly changed his lifestyle to prioritise exercise and make healthier food choices.
In April 2024, he revealed he lost ’70-something pounds’ training for the 2 Bears 5K with Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura.
He was logging between ‘two and three miles a day, four to six days a week’ to prep for the race, which was held the following month at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.
‘I feel really good,’ he said. ‘I was thinking, I plan on losing another 100, 100-and-something [pounds]. If I feel this good down this weight, man, I can only imagine what I’m going to feel like by the time I go on tour.’
Bunnie joined Jelly for his first-ever 5K, and they crossed the finish line together.
Reflecting on completing the run, he said it was ‘really emotional’ because he ‘couldn’t walk a mile’ in January when he started training for the 5K.
‘So the fact that we got three point whatever it was done today, I feel really, really good about it. I left here feeling really motivated,’ he added.
As part of his 5K training, Jelly added a few other self-care practices like hitting the sauna and cold plunging.
Jelly Roll has been displaying his shrinking body over the last months
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‘I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day,’ he said.
Jelly then wowed fans at the Academy of Country Music Awards later that month when he looked noticeably slimmer on the red carpet.
He revealed that year that he struggled with food addiction and had to change the way he’s ‘looked at food for the last 39 years’ to lose weight.
The singer said that the battle began when he was a kid growing up in Antioch, Tenn.
‘Nobody in my house ever had [a healthy relationship with food], so that was the hard part, really fighting that demon at first and getting into that discipline and that commitment,’ Jelly told People.
‘But once you get into that discipline and commitment, it’s like an avalanche. Once that little snowball started rolling, it was on its way.’
After finishing his Beautifully Broken tour later that year, which was four months long, Jelly estimated that he lost between 60 and 70 lbs more of weight.
‘It’s cool because there was once a time in life that the culture I built on tour was the opposite,’ the Grammy nominee told People.
‘It revolved around alcohol and drugs. And now our tour culture is around good eating and around exercising and doing emotional check-ins with our crew every day.’
During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show, the singer said he brought a nutritionist, Chef Ian Larios, along on his tour to cook him high-protein meals.
Ian shared an Instagram video of what he had been whipping up for the musician at the time.
Some of Jelly’s favourite tour meals include a healthier version of Nashville-style hot chicken and French fries boiled in bone broth.
Jelly shared another look at his diet while on the road in a video on Instagram in March 2025 as Ian showed off a full day of the meals he prepared for the musician.
This time around, his meals included a healthier take on Waffle House hashbrowns, peanut butter cookie dough bites and dairy-free high-protein poutine.
In April that year, Jimmy Kimmel asked Jelly how he was losing the weight, with the singer revealing that his weight loss strategy was uncool.
‘I’ve been thinking of ways to make it sound cool, but I can’t,’ he said. ‘I’m eating a lot of protein, vegetables and walking. That’s what I’m doing.’
Recalling the moment he knew things had to change, he said: ‘It was right around my 39th birthday that I started really considering taking this step to try to make a major chance in my life. I could feel myself dying’ (pictured in February)
However, despite his slimmed-down appearance, the star said that he still struggles sometimes.
When asked about the hardest part of losing weight at the Academy of Country Music Awards, he told Fox News Digital it was the food.
He said: ‘If you’re really battling obesity, you got to start at the dinner table, man.
‘The walking’s great, all the other stuff’s great, but you got to fight that addiction at the dinner table.’
While there was speculation over how he managed to lose the weight, Jelly explained that he decided to lose it ‘naturally.’
While he said he is not against using Ozempic, the singer chose not to out of fear of getting acid reflux, a potential side effect of the weight-loss injectable.
‘So I want to be very clear that I’ve done it naturally, but it wasn’t out of stubbornness or trying to prove a point. If it helps you, go get it. But for me, I was just petrified of the side effects of it, he said.
Now nearly 300 pounds down from his heaviest, Jelly has seen benefits to his whole life due to his weight loss.
In an interview with Extra around the live premiere of Netflix’s Star Search, he said: ‘I’ve gotten closer to God. I’ve gotten closer to myself. I’m a better father,’
‘I’m more present with my children. You should see it, dude. I mean, I’m coaching my son’s basketball team this year … I just feel physically better, and I feel like I can physically do [things]…
‘To have the weight off… I’m a whole different human.’
This year, he appeared on the cover of Men’s Health magazine, marking a major milestone for the singer, who in late 2024 made public his goal to be on the cover in 2026.
Jelly, who has long been open about his past struggles with cocaine and alcohol, noted that the journey focused as much on mental health as physical health.
He said: ‘Once I started treating food like an addiction, it started changing everything for me.
‘When I started really looking at the source of why I was eating. What was I eating for?’
By his side throughout his weight loss journey was Bunnie, who supported him all the way.
Last year, she said he was keeping up with the new grooming regimen.
In an interview with Extra TV, she said the ‘coolest’ part about her husband’s transformation, including him shaving his beard for the first time in 20 years, is ‘getting to see him look in the mirror and…fall in love with himself’ again.
She also opened up about how their sex life had improved.
She told People: ‘We always had a sex life, but there were mountains and valleys that we had to go through — especially when he was so big.
‘Even when he was 500 pounds, this dude was an agile, big guy. I’m like, “You are athletic under that meat suit.” Now that he has the weight off of him, he just gets to be who I always knew that he was, and I think it’s brought a new sense of happiness to him. Any time he’s happy, I’m happy.’
But in the wake of his weight loss, it was revealed that he and his soon-to-be ex-wife Bunnie broke up just over week before he filed for divorce in May in Tennessee
But in the wake of his weight loss, it was revealed that he and his soon-to-be ex-wife Bunnie broke up just over week before he filed for divorce in May in Tennessee.
The country music star, who cited ‘irreconcilable differences’ as justification for the split, filed his petition on May 18 and listed the date of separation nine days earlier on May 9, according to TMZ.
On Monday, a moving truck was pictured in front of the couple’s $6.5 million home near Nashville and boxes were seen leaving, though it is unclear which of the two was moving out. They bought the five-bedroom, seven-bath mansion in late 2023.
The last time they were seen together in public was Bunnie’s book tour stop on February 24 where he made a surprise appearance and performed for the sold-out crowd.
Jelly and Bunnie were married in 2016 and their relationship hasn’t been straightforward.
The three-time Grammy winner publicly admitted that he cheated on his wife in 2018.
He called the affair ‘one of the worst moments’ of his adult life, attributing the infidelity to substance abuse and a toxic circle of friends at the time.
Bunnie recently opened up about the ups and downs of the couple’s marriage revealing it’s important to love someone even when they are ‘at their lowest’ because ‘everybody deserves a second chance.’
‘When you are with somebody for a long time, you are going to have to love them at their lowest. And I truly believe that true love is not about so much as accepting things that you shouldn’t, but I do think that everybody deserves a second chance,’ she told People earlier this year.
‘Loving somebody at their lowest is one of the most beautiful things you can do, especially if they bloom and they blossom like my husband has.’
Back in February, Jelly made a moving speech at the 2026 Grammy Awards as he accepted the prize for Best Contemporary Country Album for Beautifully Broken, and crediting his wife with saving his life.
‘I would have never changed my life without you. I’d have ended up dead or in jail. I’d have killed myself if it wasn’t for you and Jesus,’ he said
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