Jelly Roll Returns to Guest Host Jimmy Kimmel Live—Will He Address the Divorce?

Country star Jelly Roll made such a strong impression filling in for Jimmy Kimmel last summer that he’s heading back to the late-night desk when Kimmel takes his two-week summer break later this year. The Antioch, Tennessee, native will join a lineup that includes Tiffany Haddish, Colman Domingo, Ike Barinholtz, Anthony Anderson, and Rosie O’Donnell as guest hosts for the ABC show.

But there’s a wrinkle this time around. Last year, Jelly Roll’s monologues were lighthearted affairs—he riffed on his weight, his tattoos, and even cracked jokes about UFC fights at the White House, quipping that watching“two meth-heads beat the piss out of each other on a lawn”was just routine entertainment where he comes from. That setup worked because the Antioch native has a gift for self-deprecating humor that lands without feeling mean-spirited.

This summer, however, Jelly Roll is navigating very different personal territory. On June 15, news surfaced that he’d filed for divorce from podcaster Bunnie Xo—the filing itself dated May 18. Since the separation came to light, both have begun staking out their respective futures, and the public has been watching closely. Bunnie announced on her Dumb Blonde podcast that despite the split, they’re still planning to have a baby together, describing their relationship as“the most unconventional couple that you guys have ever encountered.”Jelly Roll, meanwhile, took the stage in Saratoga Springs, New York, last week and addressed swirling infidelity rumors head-on, declaring,“Nobody cheated on nobody,”and then added,“This is the only time I will ever speak about it.”

So here’s the question hanging over his Kimmel slot: Will he stick to that pledge of silence, or will the late-night format—where personal oversharing is practically a requirement—pull those carefully guarded boundaries apart? Late-night monologues thrive on honesty and vulnerability, and Jelly Roll has proven he can walk that line with humor. But there’s a difference between cracking jokes about your past or your appearance and mining real-time heartbreak for laughs.

The anticipation isn’t cynical curiosity—it’s genuine. Jelly Roll’s return gig suggests ABC and Kimmel trust his ability to command the room. Whether he channels that trust into carefully crafted material that honors his stated boundary or decides the moment calls for something more raw will say a lot about how he’s processing this chapter. Either way, when he steps behind that desk, the room will be leaning in.