‘It has made me live life more’: Jessica Cornish on her health battle, comebacks and cracking China

You wouldn’t believe it, Jessie J states. At that moment gearing up for her new album launch in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her newish partner, and finally the parent to a young child after struggling to conceive for a decade, on top of the world. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, birth name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d experienced since she last recorded music (endometrial issues, miscarriage, failed relationships, psychological manipulation, suicide) with typical candour. The initial release, her single No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and she was speaking publicly about how she was thriving, while still secretly coping with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in the start of summer she received surgical treatment.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called the track No Secrets. I’m doing every press talk, and they ask, ‘Any updates?’ and I’m, like, ‘Uh, nothing really’” Cornish has just had to postpone shows because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in the capital. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with ornate white designs, cream boots and large glasses. Imagine motorcycle style meets vintage look. “It seems like I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Easy Rider, I say, recalling the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She smiles. Jessie is quick, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always been interested in humor and is aiming for her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I often tease the crowd.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

Cornish was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she found a lump. “I immediately went to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘How about a biopsy?’ The date was March 28, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was serious she’d contact on the Monday. By then Cornish had convinced herself it was fine. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to face illness when she had many commitments.

“It was a fortnight prior from launching this thing after a long hiatus and an extended break. And the doctor messaged and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘Oh, it’s a Zoom, it won’t be anything.’ So I join the call expecting it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘You might want to sit.’ That sympathetic voice? And she continues, ‘I regret to inform you but your biopsy results have shown high-grade cancer cells.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ 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 found the surgery frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. You’re escorted. During crises you go on a gurney, but now I just marched with a gown on and my rear exposed. It felt surreal.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemotherapy or radiation, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but yet I’m grateful it was caught soon. I had the mastectomy recently and my affected breast now resembles a grapefruit under a tight bedsheet.” Another grin. “The nipple was preserved.”

The subsequent surgery is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her boobs, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The implant is larger than before. So inconsiderate! I felt, why make it worse, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. My plans were disrupted.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s experienced in physical challenges. They have often coincided with career highs, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to be complacent. “Truly, I feel fate says, ‘You having a good time? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; something severe or obscure has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the West End in the production (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was diagnosed with the medical problem a syndrome, which can cause a tachycardia as well as dizziness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I secured a deal, and I had a stroke. Then when I was about to put out music in 2020 I had a collision and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I am overwhelmed. At just 17? She nods|agrees