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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. There she was readying for her comeback record in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, riding high. Suddenly in March she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jess Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The record, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every bit of hardship she’d endured since she last made an album (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, suicide) with typical candour. The first single, her single No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then next release, her song Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with the disease. A month later she went public, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She shoots me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every press talk, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting cosmetic procedures.

We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, denim trousers with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Jessie is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. When performing I basically roast the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

Cornish was getting ready for an slot at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. I’ve got an achy arm and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they said, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the day after my birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d reach out on the start of the week. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was simply too inconvenient to face illness when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be fine, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She considered the operation scary and bizarre. “I fear going under. They lead you. In urgent cases you go on a gurney, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” A further beam. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she observes, are now “asymmetrical. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Amusingly I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s used to medical emergencies. They have often coincided with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or shock, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her 11-year-old self, already starting her career featuring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I rehearsed between visits on an drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the trio Soul Deep while attending the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in 2020 I had a car crash and my larynx moved up and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees