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You couldn’t make it up, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in eight years, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The artist, birth name J. Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was intended as an candid account, tackling every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with her usual frankness. The lead track, No Secrets, was launched in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. The cancer. Later follow-up track, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was giving interviews about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while all the while living with her cancer. A month later she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she underwent breast removal surgery.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” expression. “I release with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every interview, and they inquire, ‘What’s happening?’ and I answer, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a studio in the capital. She is wearing a light brown synthetic jacket, denim trousers with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, referencing the picture. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She smiles. Jessie is sharp-witted, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is planning to attempt her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I like entertaining. When performing I often tease the audience.”

Personal Battles and News

The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and tingling in my hands whenever I rise.’ And they suggested, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was serious she’d call on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from debuting the project after eight years without an album and an extended break. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she says, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have shown aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

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

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I dislike anesthesia. They lead you. In urgent cases you roll down in a bed, but this time I just strolled down with a gown on and my rear exposed. Like a dystopian scene.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Thank fuck I found it early. The surgery happened recently and my affected breast now appears as a odd shape.” A further beam. “The nipple was preserved.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d avoid breast surgery because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is accustomed to medical issues. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so upbeat because she’s used to medical emergencies. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or shock, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her youth, already starting her career starring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was selected at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was diagnosed with the cardiac issue Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as vertigo and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She skips forward six years, and young Jessica has entered the female band the group while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Oi, I say, wait, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees