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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jess Cornish, is known for telling it as it is. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, emotional abuse, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in May and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with breast cancer. Subsequently she went public, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” she has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with ornate white designs, beige footwear and large glasses. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. Jessie is quick, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance soon. “I enjoy humor. When performing I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was planning an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. What awful timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just marched with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened four months ago and my one side now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I reflected, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is familiar with health problems. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has often paired with moments of success 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 featuring in the stage in the production (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition WPW, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Wow, I say, wait, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees