Jelly Roll’s got moves.
Jelly Roll is showing off his incredible weight loss, poking a little fun at his stage name by donning a new nickname. Over the last two years, Jelly Roll, whose legal name is Jason DeFord, has been on a weight-loss journey and has truly transformed into a new man before our eyes.
While Jelly Roll has opened up about his struggles with weight, he took action when he and his wife, Bunnie Xo, decided they wanted a child of their own.
“My wife and I are talking about having a baby. And it really made me realize, at almost 40, I was like, that means I got to live to at least 60. I got to see this kid into college. And my plan was never to be 60. It was to be like, 55… I’d like to see my 60s. And that really lit it up.”
While that was a significant driving force, Jelly Roll also admitted earlier this year that, when he was at his heaviest, weighing 500 pounds, he struggled with daily tasks, and his inability to perform them without getting short of breath was a major wake-up call.
“A little bit over a year ago, I was, I literally struggled to walk down my hill to the mailbox. I mean, it was really bad. And I had let myself get to a point of just being absolutely disgusted with myself.
I was just sick and tired of it, and I was like, man, I’m gonna figure this out. About the time I was trying to find something to motivate me, I had seen that Burt and Tom Segura had teased doing a 5k by May. And I knew right then if there was ever a place that I was gonna feel safe to try to do my first 5k, it was gonna be at the Two Bears 5k.”
Jelly Roll then discussed his Facebook group, where he shares tips and tricks for getting into shape, as well as his own journey into running (with the word “run” used loosely).
But in the video, Jelly also said how “embarrassed” he was to be “sucking snot and air every time I walked down the driveway,” but explained how much better he feels about a year out from some significant lifestyle changes:
“I can’t even begin to describe to people how much better, how much more mentally focused I am, how clear-headed I am, more energetic I am, the happier I am with life in general now that I’m eating healthy exercising, cold plunging.
It’s possible, y’all. It’s not overwhelming, it’s just dedicating a little time every day and a little more time than you did before the next day.”
Since starting this weight-loss journey, Jelly has shared major milestones and disclosed to fans that he would weigh under 300 pounds for the first time since middle school, walking into WWE SummerSlam:
“I got fat like really, really young. I was over 300 pounds coming out of middle school. I am going to be under 300 lbs for the first time since middle school, the night I walk to that ring at SummerSlam.”
Jelly Roll shared while appearing on the What’s Your Story? podcast with Steph McMahon.
Jelly Roll seems to be well on his way to getting on the cover of Men’s Health by March 2026. But Jelly Roll also shared he has another significant career milestone he wants to achieve surrounding his weight loss:
“I want to do a shirt off cover in ’27.”
Jelly admits that he’s a “long way from that,” and that before he reaches that goal, he will have to undergo surgery to remove some of his excess skin. Jelly says that his access skin has begun to interfere with his daily functions, but if it were not affecting him, he would not address it.
“It’s not even an aesthetic thing. Now that I can take my shirt off and I don’t have saggy t***, that’s going to be a big bonus! You know what I mean?”
Leave it to Jelly to crack a joke like that while sharing some serious goals. Since appearing on What’s Your Story?, Jelly Roll’s weight loss has been very evident to the public, and he’s still cracking jokes about it, noting that he can now wear Louis Vuitton clothes and asking fans to pray for his bank account.
While Jelly Roll was always a large personality before his weight loss, fans are really seeing how goofy he is now that he has more mobility. In a recent post of his, you can really see how slender he looks as he showed off his dance moves on stage.
In the video, Jelly Roll is having a ball moving around, but in the caption, he cracks another joke about his weight loss, noting it might be time for a name change, given he’s not carrying that much Jelly on him these days.
“They’re calling me Veggie Roll y’all.”
HA. I have to give it to Jelly; he’s been looking great the last few months, but in this video, you can truly see how much his hard work has paid off.
Keep up the work, Jelly Roll… or should we say Veggie Roll.
@officialjellyrollThey’re calling me Veggie Roll y’all😭
