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Bunnie Xo opened up about the ways her husband Jelly Roll’s confidence has grown after he shaved his beard for the first time in 20 years amid his weight loss journeyThe podcaster teased the country singer’s dramatic facial hair transformation in November before he unveiled his look on YouTube days laterJelly Roll joked about his changed appearance making him look like a “Ninja Turtle”
Jelly Roll is feeling himself, and his wife Bunnie Xo loves being along for the ride.
In an interview with Extra TV, Bunnie (real name Alyssa Deford) said the “coolest” part about her husband’s transformation, including him shaving his beard for the first time in 20 years, is “getting to see him look in the mirror and…fall in love with himself” again.
The 45-year-old podcaster — who first revealed that the country music star was ditching his facial hair in November, giving fans a full view of his face tattoos — added “because, you know, battling weight and being called memes every day and just living with that burden of the weight on him every day, that takes a toll on somebody’s self-esteem.”
Jelly Roll before and after shaving his beard.
Kevin Mazur/Getty; Jelly Roll/Instagram8
But now, with the results of his dramatic weight loss, Bunnie Xo said the “Wild Ones” singer, 41, is “getting comments like, ‘You look so hot,’ ‘You look so healthy,’ or ‘I’m so proud of you.’ That just lifts his spirits so much.” It’s exactly how she feels when she gets to watch her significant other’s self-esteem grow.
Jelly Roll (whose real name is Jason DeFord) has been on his weight loss journey in recent years, and he reached his goal of dropping 275 lbs. “I’m loving my body,” he told Men’s Health in a new interview. “This is a whole new thing for me, y’all, I’ve been imprisoned to a fat suit for 30-something years.”
At his heaviest, the musician weighed 540 lbs, and said that obesity and his food addiction left him with a lot of shame.
“It was never-ending sadness,” he shared with the outlet. “And anger. I was a prisoner to my own body. Dude, wiping my ass was a problem. Washing myself properly was a problem. Getting in cars. Every decision I made in life had to be based on my weight. If it could hold me, facilitate me, or fit me — people don’t think about every facet of ‘I still want to be able to do that and I can’t.’ I was so inspired by that kind of stuff.”
Jelly Roll revealing his new look after shaving his facial hair for the first time in 20 years.
Jelly Roll/Instagram
Jelly Roll has also been very candid about how his new weight has changed his sex life with Bunnie Xo for the better, allowing him to get aroused again after struggling for years.
“I feel like I’m a teenager, dog,” he confessed. “I have the sex drive of a 17-year-old again. I’m f—ing pouncing on my wife. We’re having daytime sex again. It’s f—ing awesome.”
“My testosterone level — and I’m cool to talk about this openly — was of a preteen boy,” he explained. “When I went in there for the test, it was bad. Bad. The world opened up when I seen it on paper. I was like, ‘That’s my testosterone level? I mean, dude, we’re talking a 57. You can’t get it up without T. I was married to a smoke show, and I was still struggling…. The first couple of blood panels were like, ‘How are you alive?’ Now it’s a totally different thing.”