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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last recorded music (endometriosis, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. Her diagnosis. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, came out in late spring and she was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while at the same time dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s yet to undergo follow-up surgery.

We’re at a studio in London. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. She is quick, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the Monday. By then the singer had assured herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to get cancer when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your reports have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just marched with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, Cornish says, she’s been fortunate. Without chemo or radio, just the op. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” A further beam. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. So rude! Ironically I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Previous Struggles

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s used to health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, functioning as a wake-up call, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career performing in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees