Why Jelly Roll Didn’t Want to Read Wife Bunnie Xo’s Memoir

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Jelly Roll wanted Bunnie Xo’s memoir to be entirely her own. 

That’s why Jessie J found it difficult to even look at the pages of her memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, before it was fully completed. The book was released on February 17th.

Bunnie explained in a recent interview with TopMob News that her husband chose not to read the book while she was writing it. She said he didn’t want to accidentally affect the content and wanted the book to completely reflect her own voice and perspective.

The 41-year-old, who is a father to Bailee, 17, and Noah, 9, from previous relationships, was one of the first to read the finished memoir, and even he found some parts surprising.

Bunnie explained that her husband was fascinated while reading her story. After just a few chapters, he told her he hadn’t realized the extent of her relationship with her stepsister – something she explored in much more detail in the book than she had before.

Given that they’ve been a couple for a decade, Jelly’s reaction shows how honest and open she was in her writing.

Bunnie explained that he’d finally put things together, realizing the meaning behind small clues she’d given him. He was surprised by the extent of it, saying, ‘Wow, I didn’t know it was this serious.’

Now that Bunnie’s book is published, she feels incredibly supported by her husband, more so than ever before.

Bunnie shared that throughout the trip, her father expressed more pride in her and her team than she could remember. She explained that he’s always known she strives for perfection, and she often wondered if he questioned whether she’d deliver on things correctly and represent herself well. She felt he finally witnessed that they could come together and succeed when it mattered most.

For every bombshell Bunnie revealed about her romance with Jelly in her memoir, keep reading…

Bunnie Xo was dating someone else in August 2015 when she first met Jelly Roll. He was performing as an opening act for the Moonshine Bandits at a Las Vegas country bar.

He completely broke down her emotional defenses. As she later wrote in her memoir, Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic, she was, in her own words, “mesmerized.”

She confessed he wasn’t someone she’d usually be attracted to, but the moment they shook hands, it felt incredibly powerful – like a cosmic connection. She said it felt as though she’d known him forever, and her soul instantly recognized him as someone she’d been searching for her whole life.

She doesn’t remember specifics of his performance, but she took lots of videos of him. She wanted to carefully observe his mannerisms and how he spoke. She admits she’d never been attracted to a Southern accent before, but that night she was captivated. She distinctly remembers thinking he had a bright future and would become famous.

Bunnie and Jelly Roll had been connecting for months through texts and online chats. She often had company when he called, and she couldn’t stop thinking about his charming smile. So, she was overjoyed when he told her he was filming a video in Las Vegas.

“J wasn’t my type—­I love tough guys, or goth, emo boys in eyeliner,” Bunnie explained. “I wasn’t his type either. So why the hell was my soul telling me there he is the minute we met? I couldn’t explain it.”

After spending an evening at a lively country bar, things really heated up between us,” she explained. “We had incredible chemistry and were instantly attracted to each other.

Bunnie recounted returning to her Las Vegas penthouse, where she initiated intimacy with a man, but he didn’t reciprocate. She described undressing him while sitting on his lap, but he refused to have sex with her.

He asked her about her plans for the future, specifically what she hoped to achieve in the next five years. “I was annoyed, but also curious, so I moved closer and lay down next to him, putting my arm around him,” Bunnie explained. “That’s when I started sharing all my hopes and dreams with him.”

She shared her dreams of hosting a talk show and starting a family, while he talked about his music career and his intention to gain custody of his teenage daughter, Bailee.

Bunnie wrote that they spent hours together, imagining their future and how they could build it with each other. She described it as the most open and honest conversation of her life, where they shared everything without holding back.

Bunnie observed that J was unlike anyone she’d ever known, but she still felt a connection to him. She admitted he fit her usual ‘type’ – a tattooed man with a criminal past and history of drug dealing. However, she also noted he was actively working to change his life and move in a positive direction, much like herself.

I have to say, I was really struck by her honesty. From the very beginning, she was upfront with him. She told him, right there on their first night, exactly what she did for a living. As she explained it, she didn’t sugarcoat anything. She told him she was a call girl, and she wasn’t afraid to admit she made good money doing it. She even explained there were different levels to the work, and she considered herself one of the more sophisticated providers.

And Jelly certainly did. 

She said he wasn’t bothered at all. He told her, ‘I respect your drive. You’re a hard worker, and I have no issue with that.’ She added that from the very beginning, he never judged her for the things she did to get by.

When she started traveling with him, she updated her website to list the cities they would be visiting, which helped her book clients. As Bunnie explained, she was completely booked for appointments even before their plane landed in each new city.

Jelly shared that her relationship was different from past ones because she and her boyfriend accepted each other completely, without trying to change one another. She felt comfortable and unpressured, which was a welcome change.

The couple’s impulsive August 2016 wedding in Las Vegas had lasting consequences. Bunnie confessed she was terrified when Jelly proposed to her backstage after a show, admitting she questioned whether she was ready for such a significant commitment despite their unique relationship.

She admitted, “I thrive on doing things on a whim. It was incredibly exciting, and I really enjoyed the intensity of it. Would it likely end badly? Definitely—but it was a good time while it lasted.”

They celebrated all the way to the courthouse, playing Jagged Edge‘s “Let’s Get Married” and Bruno Mars‘ “Gorilla.” As Bunnie put it, “We were feeling amazing—in every way!”

She described herself as being heavily under the influence of cocaine on her wedding day, and woke up the next morning, still upset and questioning her decision, wearing a torn black dress.

Their first major argument happened soon after, and it led to a serious talk with the Grand Canyon as their backdrop. Jelly Roll made it clear he only would have married her if he truly meant it.

Bunnie explained that J’s single sentence instantly eased all of her anxieties. She’d always lived a life where nothing felt truly permanent—relationships could end easily, and no one considered a future with her. But J was different; he envisioned a lasting connection.

Seven years later they returned to that Vegas chapel to renew their vows.

She’s always been attracted to men who are a bit rebellious. “Before me, J was a womanizer,” Bunnie admitted. “He was seeing multiple women for years simultaneously.”

That includes the mother of his son Noah, born a week before his dad’s Vegas vows. 

Bunnie explained that Jelly Roll and his ex had a complicated relationship lasting around ten years. Though it was unhealthy, they tried to raise their son together as well as they could. She also shared that she and Jelly Roll started dating while his ex-partner was already very far along in her pregnancy.

Bunnie admitted their relationship started off rocky, but now she truly loves her husband’s ex-wife. She’s grateful to have someone who understands their child as well as she does, and admires the woman and mother she has become.

When Bunnie first met Bailee, who was only seven years old at the time, Bailee may have actually helped Bunnie avoid making some bad decisions.

Bunnie explained that after a few months of marriage, she and Jelly Roll were on the verge of being granted full custody of Bailee, as the child’s mother was struggling with a serious drug addiction.

Bunnie began each day by taking a combination of medications—half a Lortab, a quarter of a Xanax, and a diet pill—which she referred to as her “cocktail.” Realizing this wasn’t sustainable, she decided it was time to make a change.

She explained that she didn’t want to make things any harder for the child, who had already been through so much. She believed getting sober would prevent her from causing further pain.

Thinking about Bailee helped me make a change,” Bunnie explained. “I immediately stopped taking pills and using cocaine, though I knew it would take me longer to stop drinking alcohol.

Despite her decision to travel with Jelly Roll all the way to Tennessee, leaving Las Vegas was difficult for Bunnie.

I have to admit, things were really tough for me. Being a full-time mom felt overwhelming, especially because I didn’t have a great relationship with my own stepmother. I found myself constantly wishing I was back in Vegas, dreaming about my old life. Everything had changed so quickly – just months before, I was carefree, and now I was suddenly responsible for so much, stuck in a really monotonous routine. Honestly, I’d spent my whole adult life avoiding responsibility and boredom, ever since I left home at fourteen! It was starting to put a strain on my marriage; I could feel things falling apart.

Bunnie described girls from her past who, after she arrived in town, intentionally tried to make her life difficult.

As a lifestyle expert, I’ve seen relationships tested in so many ways, and Bunnie’s story really resonated with me. After a particularly difficult period with Jelly Roll, and right after Bailee had her tonsils removed, Bunnie made a tough decision and left. Looking back, she’s incredibly clear that family is everything to her – she’d never walk away from them. But in that moment, she admits she was just…scared. It wasn’t about a lack of love or commitment, it was pure fear driving her actions. She’s since realized that while she could try to justify it with a million reasons, the truth is, she was terrified.

Bunnie quickly realized she’d made a mistake and soon found a large five-bedroom house in Las Vegas for everyone to live in together. She explained it was her way of making up for leaving Bailee and his father. She wanted to show them she was committed for the long haul, proving it with her actions rather than just words.

However, Jelly Roll quickly changed his mind. “He suddenly decided to cancel everything,” Bunnie explained, adding that she was completely surprised.

Five months after moving to Las Vegas, Jelly Roll told Bunnie they were going back to Nashville. Bunnie later revealed the real reason for the move wasn’t what Jelly Roll initially said. He had been secretly communicating with a former girlfriend, someone he’d dated briefly before they got together. Bunnie had suspected something was wrong but couldn’t confirm it. She also recognized that both she and Jelly Roll were still dealing with emotional pain and hadn’t fully learned how to love.

Even though I sensed his invitation to come to Tennessee wasn’t exactly enthusiastic, she said yes. She explained it simply: she’d never leave our little family again, and that meant everything to me.

Bunnie explained that she believed allowing other women into their sexual encounters would prevent future infidelity, despite the fact they weren’t in an open relationship. She clarified, ‘If someone wanted to join us, we usually wouldn’t object.’

Bunnie shared that if she ever wanted to be with someone else, her partner, J, had previously said she was free to do so. Initially, this openness hurt her feelings – she wondered if a lack of jealousy meant he didn’t love her deeply. However, she eventually came to understand his perspective.

She explained that they both believe in having independent lives and don’t see each other as someone they own. They describe their relationship as free and committed, but not simply ‘open’ to anything.

Bunnie made it clear that while she valued her partner’s independence, honesty was non-negotiable. She insisted, ‘Just don’t ever lie to me, and always be upfront with me about everything.’

She strongly suspected something was happening between Jelly Roll and a woman he used to be involved with. “For a year, this woman harassed me online,” she explained. “She’d share lyrics from his songs, show off his merchandise in photos, and subtly insult me in her posts, knowing I was catching on. I just couldn’t find any evidence to prove it.”

Bunnie explained that when she questioned Jelly Roll about his posts, he would manipulate her and make her feel like she was the one with the problem.

Couples’ therapy didn’t help, and the arguing and distrust continued for ten months, eventually leading to a major blow-up, as Bunnie described it.

She came home from a trip to find her husband had already left their house in Nashville. A conversation with his best friend’s wife then confirmed what she had feared – he wasn’t coming back.

Bunnie shared that she had considered ending her life that night. She explained the pain she was feeling was overwhelming and she just wanted it to stop.

Instead of staying, she drove back to Las Vegas and found out on Instagram that Jelly Roll had already announced their breakup, even though he’d said he would wait a few months before doing so.

Honestly, after everything – all the drama, the fights, and the pain – that final incident with J was just too much. I was completely done. I made a firm decision right then and there: I would never talk to him again.

They were completely committed to each other, through thick and thin, as Bunnie put it. She recounted how he told her a story – “about a drug dealer’s daughter he met at a bar” – and she, sadly, believed it.

Until a random number began blowing up his phone. 

It suddenly occurred to me,” Bunnie said. “It was her – her ex was still involved somehow, even though he insisted they’d broken up completely.”

Her trust in Jelly Roll demolished, she reached out to his affair partner for the full story. 

Bunnie explained that she found out he’d bought a house for them and wanted her to be a stay-at-home mother to his daughter, Bailee. She said that, more than anything, this upset her. It wasn’t the physical affair that bothered her, but the emotional betrayal and the expectation that she would raise a child he’d had with another woman, a child Bunnie had grown to love.

Bunnie explained that even though she eventually forgave Jelly Roll, the experience changed how she loved him. “You don’t stop loving someone who hurts you,” she said, “but your heart becomes more cautious, less open, and a little broken.”

Bunnie admitted things weren’t okay after their disagreement. She explained that arguments became heated, and she even confessed to hitting Jelly Roll after he expressed no remorse for his actions.

She wrote that it would take a long time to get over the affair and even longer to truly believe her partner loved her and didn’t see her as easily replaced.

Now nearly seven years into the pair’s fertility journey, the pieces are starting to come together. 

I was heartbroken to learn I had blocked Fallopian tubes, meaning getting pregnant naturally wouldn’t be possible, and even surgery wasn’t a guarantee. But honestly, seeing how far IVF has come gives me so much hope! And we were incredibly blessed to find the most amazing woman who selflessly offered to be a surrogate and help us welcome twins. It’s a dream come true, and I feel so grateful for the advancements in reproductive technology and the kindness of others.

Their plan is to use her eggs and his sperm and try for twins. 

Bunnie responded to criticism about having children at her age with a defiant message, stating she doesn’t care what others think. She and her partner plan to shower their children with love and provide opportunities they themselves never had. She expressed excitement about watching their children grow and experience the world, seeing a part of themselves reflected in the next generation.

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2026-02-19 18:49