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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. At that moment preparing for her comeback record in nearly a decade, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for ten years, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name J. Cornish, is renowned for telling it as it is. The LP, her latest release, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last made an album (endometrial issues, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was released in April. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in May and she was speaking publicly about how she was living her best life, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Are you kidding?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Uh, nothing really’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and large glasses. Think motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a man with facial hair.” A biker reference, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, bold and direct. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is aiming for her standup debut soon. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the audience.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was preparing for an performance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It looks like nothing; 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 wake up.’ And they suggested, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the start of the week. By then the singer had convinced herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was simply too inconvenient to get cancer when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after a long hiatus and no new music. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I assumed, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be fine, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your reports have shown malignant cells.’” How did you respond? “I said, ‘That’s unfortunate. The timing is terrible.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I hate being put under. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, she notes, she’s been fortunate. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal recently and my right breast now appears as a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “uneven. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. Such disrespect! 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 accustomed to medical issues. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or blow, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Frankly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut 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 diagnosed with the cardiac issue WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I lost my voice for a year.”

Hey, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees