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Jelly Roll Reveals He Hit New Weight Loss Goal: ‘I’m Gonna Go Skydiving With My Wife!’
New weight, new goals! Jelly Roll revealed he’s dropped nearly 200 pounds in his fitness journey and has an adventurous new way he wants to celebrate the next 100 pounds he loses.
“It looks like you lost a person,” Pat McAfee told the “Save Me” singer, 40, about his remarkable weight loss during the sports podcaster’s Big Night AHT live show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, April 9. Jelly Roll opened up his jacket to show off his new physique to the audience at PPG Paints Arena as they cheered him on in a video posted to X.
“I started at 540 pounds, and I was 357 pounds this morning, baby” Jelly Roll — real name Jason DeFord — proudly responded when Pat, 37, asked for an update on where he started and where he is at now weight-wise.
“I’m gonna lose another 100 pounds and go skydiving with my wife in Sweden,” the CMA winner proclaimed about how he plans to celebrate his next weight loss goal with wife Bunnie Xo.
“We’re all proud of you,” the ESPN analyst told his pal, adding about his skydiving plans, “We need you to survive brother, you’re one of the good ones.”
Jelly Roll has been an open book when it comes to his weight loss progress.
“I’m probably down 70-something pounds,” the “Winning Streak” singer shared in an April 2024 interview with People. “I’ve been really kicking ass, man. I’m doing two to three miles a day, four to six days a week. I’m doing 20 to 30 minutes in the sauna, six minutes in a cold plunge every day. I’m eating healthy right now.”
He added that he was feeling “really good” and hoping to lose another “100, 100-something” pounds.
Jelly Roll proudly revealed he was down “a hundred f–king pounds” during an October 2024 appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast.
“It’s been all food. I’m working out, I’m walking. But what I’ve learned is as I’m losing the weight … by nature I just want to go walking and do more stuff cause I’m lighter. I feel better,” he confessed.
In addition to his fitness routine that included playing basketball with his band members and going for long walks through the arenas he played at while on tour, the “Wild Ones” singer told Joe, 57, that he hired a “real nutritionist,” and that “I’m only eating his food.”
Jelly Roll’s daily diet at the time consisted of only eating twice a day with a “fruit snack in between.” He was also doing a full 24 hour fast once a week and practicing intermittent fasting when he was able to while shedding the weight.
The Tennessee native became emotional when describing his heaviest weight during his lifetime. “I was up to 557 pounds. I was having to weigh myself at meat places,” Jelly Roll recalled, after describing himself as a “lifelong food addict” who was able to change his entire mindset on his journey to better health.
Fans can next watch the country superstar make his acting debut on the April 11 episode of CBS’ Fire Country. He’s playing the character of Noah, a healthcare worker and former convict, while being credited as Jason “Jelly Roll” DeFord to mark his debut as an actor.
Jelly Roll’s music will also be heard on the emotional episode, as his new song “Dreams Don’t Die” will be featured.
Fire Country star and cocreator Max Thieriot revealed how an encounter with the recording artist in the bathroom at the 2024 CMT Music Awards led to casting Jelly Roll on the show.
“He was finishing drying his hands with a towel in the bathroom at the CMTs. I ran into him in the bathroom straight up at the CMT Music Awards,” Max, 36, told Us Weekly in an interview published on April 4.
“I said, ‘Thank you for letting us have some of your songs on the show.’ And he’s like, ‘Dude, how do I get on the show? I’ve been petitioning online and talking to my people, and you got to get me on that show,’” the SEAL Team alum recalled. “He said Fire Country is what he really represents. … He called me the next day and it showed how sincere he was.”
Jelly Roll has been open about his past history of jail time for aggravated robbery and drug possession, and is passionate when it comes to helping others turn their lives around like he has.
“We worked on coming up with a character [for him] that we all thought would be interesting, unique and special. It tells some of the story about second chances and what he really represents,” Max added. “But [it] also feels different from who he is and how people see him day to day as a country singer.”
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