“You've got to be under 250” — American Idol artist-in-residence Jelly Roll reveals his weight loss plans

The designated American Idol artist-in-residence, Jelly Roll, appeared in the latest episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live on April 25, 2025. The segment kicked off with host Jimmy complimenting Jelly Roll about his look. The singer revealed that he had already achieved a significant weight loss of nearly 200 pounds, but was continuously working towards his goal of losing more weight.

As Jimmy welcomed Jelly Roll, the American Idol artist-in-residence joked that he had lost "an entire Jimmy Kimmel", bringing laughter among the audience. He shared his aspirations with the host, stating that he wanted to reach a weight of 250 pounds.

Jelly Roll believed that being under that number would enable him to participate in various activities that he couldn't do before.

"For the non-fluffy people in the world, I would give y'all some educational course here — to do all the fun stuff in life, you've got to be under 250," stated American Idol's Jelly Roll.

He expressed his desire to do activities like skydiving, ride roller coasters, and ride bulls. These activities were important to him, and he felt that reaching his weight goal would make it easier for him to do them.

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American Idol's Jelly Roll opens up about weight loss goals and fighting alligators

Jelly Roll went on to share more about his dreams after reaching his desired weight. He even mentioned that he wanted to wrestle an alligator, which was just one item on his list of things to do. Jimmy Kimmel expressed surprise at Jelly Roll's goals after losing weight.

The talk show host even jokingly asked why Jelly Roll wanted to do something that could potentially kill him after working so hard to lose weight.

"So let me get this straight. You do all this hard work and you have all this discipline losing all this weight, and then you want to do something that will potentially kill you?" Jimmy asked.

Taking Jimmy's jokes on his stride, Jelly Roll continued showcasing his enthusiasm for his plans as he stated that he would rather take risks and try new things than wait for health problems to catch up with him. Jelly Roll also explained how he achieved his weight loss.

His approach was straightforward as he focused on eating more protein and vegetables and incorporated walking into his routine.

The artist-in-residence for American Idol had previously talked about his weight loss journey on social media as well, where he addressed the struggles he faced over the years.

In a 2018 Instagram post, he revealed through the post that he started working on himself in 2016 and managed to lose 200 pounds.

"I started fighting to save my own life. I lost roughly 200 lbs. it wasn’t a fast journey it was actually quite slow," said American Idol's Jelly Roll.

Despite his best efforts to lose extra pounds, he regained 60 pounds during that time. Jelly Roll further mentioned in the caption of the post that since he was constantly on tour, his schedule wasn't as constant as he wanted it to be.

He also could only manage a limited amount of sleep and even unhealthy habits, which made it hard for him to maintain his weight loss.

In 2024, Jelly Roll appeared on his wife Bunnie XO's podcast and shared why he chose to make his weight loss journey public. He claimed he wanted to be honest about his struggles and show others that they weren't alone.

Jelly Roll believed that people who lose a significant amount of weight often feel ashamed and unsure of how to interact with others after their transformation.

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Fans of Jelly Roll can see him on American Idol season 23 at 8 pm ET on ABC.