From a rough start in Las Vegas to a No. 1 bestselling memoir, an IVF battle and a divorce: the true story of Bunnie Xo.
From Las Vegas to Nashville
Alisa DeFord, known as Bunnie Xo, was born on January 22, 1980, in Houston, Texas. She had a rough start in Las Vegas and dropped out of high school. She worked in the adult industry, a past she has always talked about openly.
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She met Jelly Roll at one of his shows in Las Vegas. Both describe it as love at first sight. In August 2016, he proposed on stage, and they married at a courthouse that same night. That year, they gained custody of his daughter, Bailee, and later helped raise his son, Noah.
While his music grew from small crowds to arenas, she says she kept them afloat. She called them two kids who had nothing.
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Building Her Own Empire
She started on YouTube, then launched the Dumb Blonde podcast and founded Dumb Blonde Productions. Her guests have included Dolly Parton, Miranda Lambert and Jon Bon Jovi. She jokingly calls herself the “Trailer Park Barbara Walters.”
The Long Road to a Baby
On October 31, 2019, the couple began trying to have a child. Doctors found her fallopian tubes were blocked. They turned to IVF and shared the journey publicly in 2024. Over the years, they lost four embryos and went through three failed transfers. She later said the hormones strained the marriage.
The Book and the Breakup
On February 17, 2026, she published her first book, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic. It reached No. 1 on the New York Times combined print and e-book nonfiction list, in the issues dated March 8 and April 5, 2026.
Three months later, on May 18, 2026, Jelly Roll filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. On her podcast, she said that after an argument on Mother’s Day, she had told him to file. She also said, “Nobody cheated on the other person.” On stage, he called her his best friend for life. The divorce was settled in July 2026.
What Comes Next
Here’s the most surprising part. At 46, Bunnie said they still plan to have a baby together through a surrogate and co-parent as friends.
Her story is a reminder that a hard past doesn’t decide your future. Sometimes a love story doesn’t end. It just changes shape.
