Jelly Roll announced on social media he had accepted a challenge to run his first 5K in May.
On Thursday, the 39-year-old country singer shared an Instagram video in which he explained he was inspired to coach for the race following an appearance on Kyle Forgeard’s “Full Send” podcast earlier this week.
Within the clip, Jelly Roll told his fans he planned to participate in comedians Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura’s 5K By May challenge.
“Yeah, baby. This message is for Bert Kreischer and Tom Segura. I used to be on the ‘Full Send’ podcast this week, and Kyle from the [comedy YouTube group] NELK Boys convinced me … that I could make it to the 5K by May if I dedicated myself to it. I feel him. I feel in myself,” Jelly Roll said as he walked through the woods with his dog.
“Bert, I really like you. Brother Tom, I don’t know you, but I really like you too and might’t wait to fulfill you. I’ll be there, baby.
“I’m in the woods walking every morning. 5k by May, baby. 5K by May. I mean it, Bert. I mean it, Bert.”
On the Jan. 1 episode of their podcast, Kreischer and Segura announced their Recent 12 months’s resolution was to run a 5K.
The 2 said that they were organizing a race in May and called on other comedians to affix them.
In the course of the episode, they recruited comics including Michelle Wolf, Tim Dillon, Stavros Halkias and Mark Normand for the race, while Louis C.K. and Shane Gillis appeared to have tentatively agreed.
“I’m an extended runner. I’m not a quick runner, but I can get my s— together for a 5K,” Wolf told them.
“So that is Watch Bert Die, mainly, right?” C.K. joked. “I’m gonna let you know I’m gonna do it, after which I’m definitely not gonna do it,”
Kreischer and Segura told their listeners they hadn’t selected a city to host the 5K but planned to sell tickets and donate proceeds to charity. Kreischer added they might also throw a “huge party” after the race.
“Tom and I are activating our fans. So, we’re all gonna get healthy this yr, and we’re gonna run a 5K in May,” Kreischer said.
“We love you guys and we would like you to be healthy.”
Jelly Roll, whose full name is Jason Bradley DeFord, has been candid about his struggles to drop some weight through the years. In 2018, the country star revealed on Instagram he weighed over 500 kilos in 2015 before he launched into a weight-loss journey and lost 200 kilos.
In a November interview with Fox News Digital, Jelly Roll explained he’s prioritizing his happiness and doesn’t have a particular weight-loss goal he’s working toward.
“I don’t actually have a goal in relation to health,” he said on the 2023 CMA Awards’ red carpet. “I just need to keep doing the best thing and feeling higher. I’m starting to search out a will to live, and I wanna lean into that, that’s it. I just need to be happier.
“Weight is often directly related to mental health, so I’m attempting to get that under control, and the remaining is following that.”
The “Save Me” singer has also openly discussed his battle with addiction through the years. He served time in prison on aggravated robbery and possession with intent to sell charges.
“The more that this thing grows and the more folks that we help and the more that I begin to take care of my past and the things which have affected me and my very own mental health struggles, the more that I actually have a will to live,” he said.
“I’ve been figuring out. I’ve been dropping pounds, slowly but surely. I’m about 45-50 (kilos) down coming off tour, walking into the CMAs.
“I’m drinking lower than I’ve ever drank, and I feel incredible. I’m drinking water like a fish. I’m getting it right out here. I would like to the touch people so long as I can.”
On Thursday, Jelly Roll, who now advocates for heroin and fentanyl addicts, appeared before US lawmakers and gave powerful testimony on the devastating impact of fentanyl on forgotten Americans.
He began his testimony to the Senate Banking Committee by noting that in the roughly five minutes he was allotted to talk, someone in america will die from a drug overdose, and there may be a 72% probability it will be related to fentanyl.
“It is necessary to determine earlier that I’m a musician and that I haven’t any political alliance. I’m neither Democrat nor Republican. Actually, due to my past, my right to vote has been restricted,” the “Wild Ones” singer said. “To date, I actually have never paid attention to a political race in my life. Satirically, I feel that makes me the proper person to talk about this because fentanyl transcends partisanship and beliefs.”
Jelly Roll told lawmakers roughly 190 people die of an overdose on daily basis in the US, roughly the equivalent of a “737 plane” at full capability.
“Could you imagine the national media attention it could get in the event that they were reporting that a plane was crashing each day and killing 190 people? But since it’s 190 drug addicts, we don’t feel that way, because America has been known to bully and shame drug addicts as an alternative of dealing and trying to know what the actual root of the issue is,” Jelly Roll said.
The Grammy-nominated musician said he sees the victims of the national fentanyl crisis at every one in every of his concert events and that he has personally been impacted by “the disease referred to as addiction.”
“I’ve attended more funerals than I care to share with y’all. This committee, I could sit here and cry for days concerning the caskets I’ve carried of individuals I loved dearly, deeply in my soul. Good people. Not only drug addicts. Uncles, friends, cousins, normal people — some folks that just got in a automobile wreck and commenced taking pain pills to administer it. One thing led to the opposite … how briskly it spirals uncontrolled,” Jelly Roll said.
As a former drug dealer, Jelly Roll told Congress he was not testifying to defend using illegal drugs.
“I used to be an element of the issue. I’m here now standing as a person that desires to be an element of solution,” he said.