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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J remarks. There she was gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her newish partner, and finally the mom to a little one after struggling to conceive for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in March she was told she had a breast cancer diagnosis.

The artist, actual name Jess Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was meant as an open book, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, losing a baby, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while at the same time coping with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a studio in London. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “As if I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and filter-free. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her first comedy performance soon. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was preparing for an slot at the awards show when she noticed an abnormality. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an scan, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom believing it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What did you say? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now appears as a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I reflected, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Previous Struggles

She is familiar with health problems. She feels her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her 11-year-old self, already making her debut featuring in the West End in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an IV drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and teenage Jess has entered the female band Soul Deep while enrolled in the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

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