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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her current love, and finally the parent to a young child after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Then in spring she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, real name Jess Cornish, is known for being brutally honest. The album, the provocatively titled album, was intended as an transparent story, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, pregnancy loss, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicidal thoughts) with characteristic openness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later next release, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in May and she was giving interviews about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with the disease. Subsequently she went public, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I put out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Think biker chic meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “I feel like I’m in the 70s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She beams. Cornish is sharp-witted, irreverent and filter-free. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was getting ready for an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it checked, had an test, and they told me, ‘It seems benign; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I responded, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had convinced herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had a busy schedule.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

Men have called me difficult because I’m a strong person who understands who I am

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you go on a gurney, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she notes, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy four months ago and my right breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is no stranger to illness. She feels her perspective on the cancer has been so optimistic because she’s familiar with health crises. Many times they occur alongside professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to remind her not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has impacted my body.”

She recalls to her childhood, already beginning starring in the West End in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has joined the girl group the group while attending the academy. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I was unable to vocalize for a long period.”

Hey, I say, wait, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees