Bunnie Xo Reveals Her 1st Impression of Husband Jelly Roll Back in 2015: ‘What Is This Man?’

Jelly Roll’s wife, Bunnie Xo, was intrigued by the country singer from the moment she first laid eyes on him! The model recently opened up about her first impression of her husband on the night they met in 2015.

“I was like, ‘What is this? What is this man? This big southern boy,'” Bunnie, 44, whose real name is Alisa DeFord, said on the Tuesday, July 9, episode of her “Dumb Blonde” podcast.

The podcast host and Jelly, 39, met at the Las Vegas Country Saloon when he was opening for the Moonshine Bandits. Bunnie said that the crowd and the venue itself were small, and Jelly wasn’t a known artist at the time, which allowed them to connect. She explained that she and her fellow concertgoers were “backstage drinking and stuff like that.”

Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO's Relationship Timeline From Dating to Marriage

“Nobody even knew who he was,” she added. “He was opening for the Moonshine Bandits. He might have had a little pop in Nashville, but people on the West Coast didn’t know who he was. We were there for the Moonshine Bandits.”

Jelly, whose real name is Jason DeFord, previously shared his side of the first encounter with his wife during an appearance on the “King and the Sting and the Wing Clips” podcast in 2020. The “Son of a Sinner” hitmaker revealed that he and Bunnie talked backstage, but she was in a relationship at the time. However, they kept in touch via mutual friends and got together after she and her boyfriend broke up.

“They split, and I’m not going to act like I shot my shot. She kind of shot hers,” Jelly said.

The CMT Music Awards winner revealed that he told Bunnie about his plans to drive to Las Vegas to film music video content, and she offered to let him stay at her home.

“It’s a white trash love story,” he joked, adding that he was “broke” and living in his van at the time. “When I hugged her, I could just feel the genuineness of her. I could tell it wasn’t an act.”

Jelly and Bunnie got engaged in 2016 and wasted no time at all getting married. They held a ceremony that same day at a chapel in Las Vegas.

“We got married kind of randomly,” the “Save Me” singer said on ”King and the Sting and the Wing Clips.” “It was Vegas, right? So it’s like 11:00. They’re closing the joint down by Hard Rock [Cafe] and I’m like, ‘F–k it. Let’s just go now.’ She’s like, ‘The courthouse is open for about 34 to 44 more minutes.’ I was like, ‘Let’s f–king roll.’”

Bunnie became a stepmom to Jelly’s daughter, Bailee, 16, and son, Noah, 7, both from previous relationships. The couple, who renewed their vows in 2023, is also trying to expand their family via in vitro fertilization (IVF).

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“My wife and I are talking about having a baby,” Jelly said on the “Bussin’ With the Boys” podcast on June 4. “And it really made me realize that at almost 40, I was like, it means I got to live to at least 60. I got to see this kid into college.”

Bunnie shared a clip from the podcast on Instagram and wrote, “We had planned on doing this privately but decided our IVF journey needed to be shared because we’ve always been so open. And w/ all odds stacked against us, it’s already been hard and we have only just begun. We have been meeting w/ IVF doctors & exploring all our options to add to our family.”

The musician continued, “J & I are so excited & scared all at the same time. We genuinely never thought we’d want to add to our family but something changed this year & we both just want a piece of us together to add to our already perfect family w/ Bailee and Noah.”