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You can’t imagine it, Jessie J says. There she was gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and at long last the parent to a young child after dealing with conception issues for a decade, on top of the world. Suddenly in spring she was diagnosed with a breast cancer diagnosis.

The musician, actual name Jess Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The record, her latest release, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last made an album (endometrial issues, miscarriage, broken romances, emotional abuse, suicide) with characteristic openness. The first single, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The cancer. Then next release, Living My Best Life, debuted in May and the artist was talking to press about how she was enjoying life to the fullest, while still secretly living with her cancer. Four weeks after she went public, and in the start of summer she had a mastectomy.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every media appearance, and they inquire, ‘Any updates?’ and I respond, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting reconstructive surgery.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a tan faux-leather coat, blue jeans with ornate white designs, off-white boots and oversized specs. Imagine rocker vibe meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Jessie is sharp-witted, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show in the coming year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she noticed an abnormality. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It looks like nothing; your tissue is healthy.’ And I was, like, ‘However, it’s there. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I wake up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ It happened on March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a weekend eve. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after years away and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your reports have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What did you say? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. The timing is terrible.’ Immediately I felt 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 considered the operation frightening and surreal. “I dislike anesthesia. They walk you down. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just strolled down with a gown on and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the op. “Cancer is awful, but yet Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal four months ago and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she remarks, are now “different sizes. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be perfect. My plans were disrupted.”

Previous Struggles

The singer is familiar with health problems. She believes her attitude toward illness has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, functioning as a wake-up call, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Honestly, I feel fate says, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already beginning starring in the West End in a musical (she was chosen at the age of nine). That’s when she was found to have the cardiac issue a syndrome, which can cause a fast heartbeat as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and returning to the hospital at night.” She fast-forwards several years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a collision and my larynx moved up and I was unable to vocalize for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. A stroke so young? She nods|agrees