Jelly Roll said cheating on wife Bunnie XO was one of his 'worst moments'

• Country singer Jelly Roll admitted to cheating on his wife, Bunnie XO, calling it one of the worst moments of his adulthood.
• The couple, who married in 2016, worked to repair their relationship and are now stronger than ever.
• Jelly Roll attributed his past behavior to the negative influence of the people he surrounded himself with at the time.
• Bunnie XO has since clarified that while they once had a more open dynamic, they are now in an exclusive relationship.

Country singer Jelly Roll recently opened up about cheating on his wife, Bunnie XO.

“One of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair on my wife,” he said on an Oct. 21 episode of the "Human School" podcast.

The couple, who recently celebrated nine years together, put in “a lot of work to repair” their relationship, he said. Now, Jelly Roll, age 40, and Bunnie, age 45, are “stronger than we could have ever been.”

Here's what to know about the couple's journey.

When did Jelly Roll cheat on Bunnie XO?

Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO tied the knot in 2016. After he proposed onstage, they exchanged vows that evening. The couple renewed their vows in Las Vegas in 2023.

On the podcast, Jelly Roll did not delve into specifics about the affair or its timeline.

“I wish our story would’ve went in the way that it never had an affair, and I’m in a way glad it happened, but man, I’m proud of who we are today,” Jelly Roll said. “I truly am.”

He said he knew he was really in love with Bunnie and that his behavior had to stop.

“I was hanging around a bunch of people that were cheating on their wives," Jelly Roll said.

"When I was doing cocaine, I was hanging around a bunch of people that were doing cocaine. ... I used to be proud of long-standing friendships just because they had a number attached to them. Horrible humans. But I would just be proud to say, ‘That dude’s been with me 12 years.’ S****y human!”

Now, Jelly Roll tries to run in a better crowd and surround himself with people who push him to be his best self.

Bunnie XO, also known as Alyssa DeFord, told fans on TikTok last year that the pair briefly split in 2018.

“Who knew that us breaking up in 2018, me moving back to Vegas and you coming to get me back would have put us on this wild journey called life,” she wrote on the TikTok video.

“We finally committed to each other and did everything we promised each other the first night in 2016. Our castle in the sand had to crumble so we could rebuild on solid ground.”

Are Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO in an open relationship?

In June, Bunnie XO cleared up rumors that she and Jelly Roll are in an open marriage.

Years ago, the two embraced a dynamic similar to an open relationship but which was mostly focused on not controlling each other. That arrangement has since ended.

Bunnie XO said she can't understand why fans aren't grasping that the two are now in an exclusive relationship.

“We have completely stopped all of those shenanigans because you can’t trust anybody in the world,” she said. "Back in the day, that was how we looked at our relationship."

Audrey Gibbs is a music journalist at The Tennessean. You can reach her at [email protected].