Although he has spoken extensively about being “scared” due to losing momentum in the industry, country music star Jelly Roll says that his weight will not be the indicator of how successful he will be in the future.
The player from Nashville, Tennessee, who recently embarked on a public weight loss journey, says he is confident that his willingness to be open about losing weight will not cost him fame.
“I did this publicly for a reason,” he told wife Bunnie Xo, on his “Dumb Blonde” podcast, which was released on Monday. “I want to be honest about my struggles with people. I wore it for a long time.”
JELLY ROLL LOST OVER 100 POUNDS WHILE FIGHTING A FOOD FIGHT
Jelly Roll photographed in June 2023, left, and in November 2024. (Getty Images)
“I think people who are big like me, when they lose weight, they feel ashamed,” explained the Save Me singer, who lost 100 pounds. “They’re so shy that they go into hiding and lose weight, and they come back out, and they don’t really know how to interact with the world, looking different or feeling different, you know? And they’re kind of having to find their new way.”
Jelly Roll, born Jason Bradley DeFord, says he took a different approach. “I wanted to lose it in front of everyone. I wanted to talk about it, “adding that it is a common topic of conversation in his daily recorded vlogs.
Jelly Roll says he chose to include the community in his weight loss journey. (Scott Legato/Getty Images)
“I always put this in the air because I want to bring people with me.”
To drive home his point, Jelly Roll brought up a past conversation with his wife. “The other night he said something to the effect of, ‘Are you worried about the ‘fat effect’? And that many Hollywood stars who have lost a lot of weight end up being excluded from their work.”
Jelly Roll was a guest on his wife Bunnie XO’s podcast, “Dumb Blonde.” (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic/Getty Images)
“What I want the world to know, and what I want people to see, Bunnie, is that I didn’t succeed because of my weight, I succeeded despite that,” said Jelly Roll frankly. “Somehow I managed to make it this far carrying 550 pounds. That’s crazy.”
Jelly Roll believes her struggle with food goes beyond bad habits. “I used to feel like it was unfair to people who are real addicts to call food something you can become addicted to. You know, because I’ve seen people fight for their lives with heroin,” the former incarcerated singer shared.
“I didn’t make it because of my weight, I made it despite it.”
LIKE YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE FUN NEWS
Jelly Roll believes that in losing weight, he is dealing with his food addiction. (Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
“But, I’ve seen people fight for their lives in their bodies. You know what I mean? And I started to realize that the same patterns that I had … about drugs or alcohol at different times in my life, were small compared to the patterns that I had … the consistent bad pattern that I had with food.”
At the end of her life, Jelly Roll set herself a new goal: to become a cover model. “I want to be on the cover of ‘Men’s Health’ in March of 2026,” he told his wife, who shared his excitement. “That’s my new goal. So I want to have a really big change.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE NEWS PROGRAM
