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You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J says. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in eight years, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in spring she was diagnosed with cancer in her breast.

The artist, actual name Jessica Cornish, is renowned for speaking her mind. The LP, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, dealing with every bit of hardship she’d faced since she last recorded music (a gynecological condition, losing a baby, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicidal thoughts) with typical candour. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there remained a major undisclosed truth. Her diagnosis. Then second single, the upbeat Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while at the same time coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every interview, and they inquire, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the seventies and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is sharp-witted, irreverent and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the fans.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘But I can feel it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they suggested, ‘How about a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The physician told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she describes it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Please take a seat.’ The solemn tone? And she reveals, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have shown malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I said, ‘Well, that’s not great. That’s not fucking great timing.’ My initial thought was, ‘My child depends on me.’”

Some men find me challenging due to my self-awareness

She viewed the procedure scary and bizarre. “I hate being put under. You’re escorted. You know when you have emergency surgery you roll down in a bed, but then I just walked with a hospital gown and my backside out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the surgery. “Cancer sucks, man, but however Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” She smiles again. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she notes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I reflected, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a hard period. So rude! Amusingly I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be perfect. Illness changed that.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. Frequently they align with professional successes, acting as a reminder, or blow, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Enjoying yourself? Hold on.’ Ever since I was a child, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was selected at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and heart flutters. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an intravenous line, and going back into hospital at night.” She fast-forwards six years, and young Jessica has become part of the trio Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my throat was injured and I lost my voice for a long period.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees