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Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo’s split may have shocked fans, but signs of trouble had reportedly been surfacing for months. Bunnie went into detail about her side of the story during a June 18 episode of her podcast, “Dumb Blonde,” in which she cleared up rumors, shed some light on their relationship and revealed some surprising future plans.
Jelly Roll filed for divorce on May 18 in Williamson County, Tennessee, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital. The 41-year-old country star listed the date of separation as May 9 and cited irreconcilable differences.
During her podcast, Bunnie shared details about what had transpired ahead of Jelly’s filing, explaining the couple had a fight on Mother’s Day which led to her telling him, “Well, then file the f—ing divorce papers.”
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Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo first tied the knot in 2016. (Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
“I packed a bag and I left and I didn’t talk to my husband for, I don’t know, weeks after that. And during that, you know, he was so mad, and we were so emotional that he ended up doing exactly what I told him to do, and filing the divorce papers,” she said.
“Was I blindsided and was this divorce mutual? No, I was not. It was not mutual. Even though I told him to file the divorce papers, I was speaking out of anger and just frustration,” she added.
Bunnie spoke about what led to the distance between them on her podcast, revealing the two were trying to have a baby through IVF, which turned her into “a shell of the person I was.”
She revealed that the two underwent three transfers and ultimately lost four embryos, which led to a breakdown in their communication and put a strain on their marriage.
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“We stopped communicating together in the past year and a half,” she shared on the podcast. “And I think that it’s safe for me to say that I always loved my husband a little bit more than he loved me. I was like always protecting him and always making sure he was okay and like always chasing him and I literally was the glue that held us together.”
Despite the divorce, Bunnie said the pair are “still having a baby together.”
“So, we have been the most unconventional couple that you guys have ever encountered,” Bunnie shared. “We’re going to co-parent together. J is my best friend. Like, this isn’t what you guys think this is. Nobody cheated on the other person. It’s literally just we served our purpose for each other.”
During his show in Saratoga Springs, NY on Thursday, Jelly spoke of the “liars” on the internet spreading false rumors about his relationship.
“Me and my wife are best friends. We will always be best friends,” he told the crowd. “We just got off the phone earlier today. Nobody cheated on nobody. She just did a whole podcast about it. You can go watch it. Every word of it is the truth.”
Jelly Roll and Bunnie XO vow to always remain friends. (Getty Images)
“That will be my best friend forever,” he continued. “This is the only time I will ever speak about it. Bunnie, I love you, baby. Thank you for those ten years. They were incredible. Thank you for the next 10 years of friendship and 20 beyond that.”
The pair, who wed in 2016, have reportedly “always had a complicated dynamic” throughout their relationship.
“When they first got together, they were both in a very different place in their lives,” a source told People. “There was a lot of chaos, ups and downs, and they built a life together through all of that.”
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The source noted that Jelly — who has been on a weight-loss journey — has “changed a lot.”
“He’s very focused on his future, his health and being around for a long time,” the source said, adding that “there wasn’t a moment where everything fell apart.”
Other sources claimed that the divorce had been building for years.
Jelly Roll filed for divorce from Bunnie Xo on May 18. (Taylor Hill)
“A lot of people want to point to one thing, but it was really a combination of issues that had been building for years,” a source told Page Six. “They came from similar worlds when they met and bonded over surviving difficult circumstances, but over time their lives started moving in different directions.”
“Jelly has changed tremendously over the last few years. His focus shifted to his health, faith, family and the long-term legacy he wants to leave behind,” the source added.
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Prior to the announcement of the split, fans noticed they’d both seemingly sent subtle messages via social media. From cryptic song lyrics to ditched wedding rings, the signs were there — they just went largely unnoticed.
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On May 20, two days after Jelly Roll’s filing, Bunnie took to TikTok to share some intuitive thoughts.
“Women’s intuition when that s— don’t add up” she captioned the video.
Bunnie Xo has been dropping subtle hints of marriage woes on social media. (Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)
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“She been dropping hints this whole time and we missed it lol,” one fan commented, after the divorce news broke.
“Bunnie was dropping the tea in real time and we all did not clock it,” another added.
On June 4, Jelly Roll performed at CMA Fest in Nashville without his wedding ring.
One day later, Bunnie shared a video of herself riding a horse in the countryside. She accompanied the video with Aerosmith’s “What It Takes” and a caption that read, “Wild hearts can’t be broken.”
The lyrics from the portion of the song she chose were, “There goes my old girlfriend / There’s another diamond ring / And all those late night promises I guess they don’t mean a thing / So baby, what’s the story? Did you find another man?”
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On June 6, Bunnie posted another video of herself enjoying the serene outdoors with some girlfriends. She paired the video with lyrics from the Goo Goo Dolls’ hit “Name.”
“Did you lose yourself somewhere out there / Did you get to be a star? / And don’t it make you sad to know that life / Is more than who we are?”
Hours before the divorce news went public on Monday, Bunnie posted a video of herself lip-syncing the lyrics to Nickelback’s “How You Remind Me.” Bunnie’s wedding ring was visibly missing.
Bunnie Xo, who married Jelly Roll in 2016, has been posting cryptic messages and lyrics in the weeks leading up to the divorce news. (Getty Images/Bunnie Xo Instagram)
“It’s not like you didn’t know that / I said, ‘I love you,’ and I swear, I still do / And it must have been so bad / ‘Cause living with me must have damn near killed you.”
Fans quickly added meaning to Bunnie’s post, with rumors swirling online that she was having an affair with Nickelback founding member, Chad Kroeger, a claim she denied on the podcast.
“I post a Nickelback song because Nickelback is like one of my favorite bands…I post this Nickelback song, not thinking anything of it. Not a shot at J in any sort of way, not even realizing that it’s a breakup song. It’s trending on TikTok,” she said, also acknowledging the other videos she posted involving the band.
“So there’s three f—ing videos…which it does look like overkill, and I get where people are trying to put puzzle pieces together, but you’re putting a puzzle together with missing pieces, and it’s not even like that. I am not with Daddy Chaddy. There’s no f—ing way in hell that that would even be a thing. And no, I did not cheat on my husband and leave him for Chad. Like none of that.”
Representatives for Jelly Roll and Bunnie Xo have not responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
Bunnie Xo shot down rumors she cheated on Jelly Roll. (Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
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This isn’t the first time the pair have weathered tough times. In her memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic,” Bunnie detailed her husband’s 2018 affair and explained how it impacted their relationship.
“When I found out about [Jelly’s affair], I was devastated,” she told Fox News Digital in February. “I was hurt because I didn’t think he would be the one person to do that. I thought he was different. And at that moment, my heart was broken. But instead of getting mad at him, I asked myself, ‘Why do I keep attracting these kinds of men?’”
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Bunnie admitted she hadn’t envisioned a conventional marriage.
Bunnie Xo detailed past marriage woes in her memoir, “Stripped Down: Unfiltered and Unapologetic.” (John Shearer/Getty Images for CMT)
“I think a lot of people need to realize that coming into this marriage, we weren’t a traditional bride and groom,” she explained. “I was a working girl, and he was an ex-drug dealer — a gangster-turned-struggling artist. There’s a different set of rules on the street than there are in what I’d call traditional marriages. If you’ve never lived that lifestyle, you’re not going to understand. But of course, cheating is wrong across the board — it doesn’t matter.”
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In 2018, Bunnie shared her vulnerability on social media amid the breakup.
“I’m sure by now you guys know that J and I have separated,” she said in a YouTube video. “It’s been hard and for the best. I’m not going to talk about why we separated. He has his version, I have my version and hopefully one day we’ll be able to be friends.”
“My whole point of doing this vlog is to have a little bit of therapeutic release,” she added. “Everybody goes through heartbreak at some point in their life … I’m a f—ing hot mess. I literally can’t make it through the day with wanting to cry… break ups f—ing suck.”
While Bunnie isn’t quite ready to date yet, she shared on her podcast that Jelly Roll has already started seeing other people.
“He is ready, rearing and ready to go,” she said. “He’s all hopped up on testosterone, let me tell you. Um, and he’s ready to go. So, he’s even started dating, which is great. I love that. Um, so his DMs are open. Go to freaking his Instagram, uh, JellyRoll615 if you don’t know, and go send that mother f—er a DM. Like, you guys don’t be scared. Everybody go hit him up. Shoot your mother f—ing shot.”
Fox News Digital’s Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
