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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her recent boyfriend, and at long last the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for ten years, feeling invincible. Then in March she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jess Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The album, her latest release, was intended as an candid account, tackling every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometriosis, miscarriage, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with her usual frankness. The initial release, the song No Secrets, was dropped in April. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, came out in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with breast cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in July she had a mastectomy.

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

Our interview takes place at a photo studio in the capital. She is wearing a beige fake-leather jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and oversized specs. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the movie. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her standup debut soon. “I like entertaining. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was getting ready for an performance at the awards show when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they were, like, ‘It appears fine; you’ve got really good dense breast tissue.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. My arm hurts and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was okay. The way she tells it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from releasing the album after years away and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Are you free at six?’ And I thought, ‘It’s virtual, probably routine.’ So I join the call thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your biopsy results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a hospital gown and my bum hanging out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my one side now looks like a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” She smiles again. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I thought, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! It’s funny because I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

She is familiar with health problems. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so positive because she’s familiar with medical emergencies. Frequently they align with career highs, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her youth, already starting her career performing in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I rehearsed between visits on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She skips forward several years, and young Jessica has become part of the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees