Jelly Roll's Wife Bunnie Xo Says Musician Deserved 'Second Chance' After 2018 Affair That Nearly Ended Their Marriage

Jelly Roll's wife, Bunnie Xo, got candid about why she decided to fight for her marriage after a 2018 affair nearly tore the couple apart.

"Everybody deserves a second chance," Bunnie Xo (real name: Alisa DeFord) told a news outlet on Thursday, February 12, ahead of the release of her new memoir, Stripped Down Unfiltered and Unapologetic, set to hit bookshelves on February 17.

“Granted, we were both a--holes when we first got together, but we have evolved together," she explained. "[When we met], he was going down a path of drugs. I was coming out of a domestic-violence relationship. I had so much baggage, so much toxicity; he had never been in a real relationship. We had to learn together.”

The "Need a Favor" singer, 41, and "Dumb Blonde" podcast host tied the knot in 2016, renewing their vows in 2023 after a rough patch, which the couple doesn't often talk about publicly.

“One of the worst moments of my adulthood was when I had an affair on my wife,” the country music musician said during an appearance on the "Human School" podcast in October 2025. “Because it was the first time that I was like, ‘I really can’t get this right at all. I know I’m in love with this woman.’ It just really, really, really blew me back.”

The Grammy winner was happy to announce that he and his wife were "stronger" than they'd ever been after putting in "a lot of work to repair" their relationship.

Jelly Roll (real name: Jason DeFord) confessed he "wished" the affair wasn't a part of their love story, but was "glad it happened" because he was "proud" of where they were today.

“I was hanging around a bunch of people that were cheating on their wives. When I was doing cocaine, I was hanging around a bunch of people that were doing cocaine,” he explained. “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----- human!”

The "Son of a Sinner" singer emphasized that he only wanted to be around people he wanted "to be like" and who pushed him to do better.

Jelly Roll didn't offer specifics about the affair, though Bunnie Xo has briefly alluded to the subject in the past.

“Who knew that us breaking up in 2018, me moving back to Vegas & you coming to get me back - would have put us on this wild journey called life,” she wrote via TikTok in March 2024. “We finally committed to each other & 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.”