On Monday night, fans were shocked to hear that Jelly Roll had filed for divorce from Bunny Xo after nearly ten years of marriage. The couple met in 2015 and secretly married in Las Vegas the following year. The couple renewed their vows in 2023 and have been public about their love for each other, leading to even more shock at their sudden split.
On May 18, the country star filed for divorce in Williamson County, Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by TMZ. The news came as a shock to many fans as he recently credited Bunny for helping him turn his life around during his 2026 Grammy Awards speech in February.
The two had shared plenty of PDA throughout the evening and posed together on the red carpet. While accepting the award for Best Contemporary Country Album, he became emotional as he thanked his wife.
“I want to thank my beautiful wife,” he said at the time, as previously reported by PEOPLE magazine. “I would never have 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.”
The couple met at his concert more than 10 years ago
Their relationship began after they met at one of Jelly Roll’s concerts at Las Vegas’ Country Saloon in 2015. After dating for about a year, he proposed to her on stage in Las Vegas in 2016. Later that night, they secretly tied the knot in a courthouse ceremony without telling friends or family.
In 2023, Jelly Roll admitted they made the decision to get married “while on a bender” in Vegas in the middle of the night, but still maintained it was the right decision.
“She’s my best friend man. She’s really my favorite person to talk to. She’s my first and last line of defense,” he shared PEOPLE in 2023. “She is my everything. There are anchors in life that keep us going, and Bunnie is definitely mine.”
They were never 100% sure of their wedding date
He went on to tell the publication that the decision to renew their vows in 2023 was due to the fact that they could never remember the actual date of their wedding.
“There was always a discrepancy with our anniversary because she thought it was on one day. I thought it was on another day. Neither of us knew,” he admitted.
“I thought, ‘Everybody else is talking about the seven-year itch. Why don’t we call it the seven-year stretch?’ We just go in there and double down,” he continued.
“It’s officially — I think — September 1. And September 1 felt right because we thought it was between the 30th and 31st, so I said, ‘Well, now we can just both be wrong and just put it on the first.’ Even money that way,” he added.
Jelly Roll has two children from a previous relationship
Jelly Roll also talked about how it’s been “really cool” parenting his daughter, Bailee, and his son, Noah, who were both from previous relationships.
“Bunny didn’t have children, (but) she has such a motherly instinct. I call her mother bear because that’s just who she is to all of us,” he said. “Watching her come in and watching her and Bailey’s relationship develop has been the highlight of my life.”
In May 2023, he gained weight Instagram to share a sweet mother’s day message for Bunny.
“It takes a special kind of woman to raise a child that isn’t hers,” he wrote at the time. “When Bunnie and I first started talking, I knew I was getting full custody of Bailee, and I also had another woman pregnant. Most women would have run for the hills, but not Bunnie. She told me, no matter what happened between us, she was going to help me get custody of Bailee.”
“7 years later, Bailee calls Bunnie Momma without hesitation, and 7 years later, Bunnie still blows my mind every day with how loving and patient she is with Bailee,” he continued. “Happy Mother’s Day Mama Bear. You deserve to be celebrated on this day more than anyone I have ever known. I love you so much!”
