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You couldn’t make it up, the singer states. At that moment readying for her new album launch in eight years, deeply enamored with her recent boyfriend, and finally the mom to a little one after dealing with conception issues for a decade, feeling invincible. Suddenly in March she was told she had cancer in her breast.

The musician, real name Jess Cornish, is renowned for being brutally honest. The record, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every moment of pain she’d faced since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, gaslighting, suicide) with her usual frankness. The lead track, her single No Secrets, was dropped in the spring. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Then follow-up track, the upbeat Living My Best Life, debuted in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while all the while coping with her cancer. Four weeks after she disclosed her condition, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She gives me her best “Seriously?” glance. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to call off performances because she’s yet to undergo cosmetic procedures.

Our interview takes place at a photography studio in the capital. She is sporting a beige fake-leather jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, beige footwear and large glasses. Picture motorcycle style meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” Like the film, I say, thinking of the movie. “They used to call me that!” She beams. Cornish is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is hoping to make her initial standup show next year. “I enjoy humor. During performances I frequently joke about the audience.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

The artist was planning an appearance at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it looked at, had an scan, and they were, like, ‘It seems benign; your tissue is healthy.’ And I responded, ‘However, it’s there. My arm hurts and numbness in my fingers whenever I rise.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ It happened on March 28, the following my birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d call on the start of the week. By then she had persuaded herself it was fine. The way she tells it, it was inopportune to get cancer when she had so much on.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and no new music. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I was, like, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in expecting it’s all going to be positive, and she says, ‘Please take a seat.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. That’s not fucking great timing.’ The first thing I thought was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs 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 are wheeled, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my rear exposed. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she notes, she’s been blessed. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “Cancer sucks, man, but you know what? I’m grateful it was caught soon. I underwent removal four months ago and my right breast now resembles a fruit under fabric.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The subsequent surgery is both medical and cosmetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “uneven. The implant is larger than before. How rude! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a hard period. Such disrespect! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got obsessive tendencies, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

The singer is familiar with health problems. She thinks her outlook on her diagnosis has been so positive because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘You having a good time? Hold on.’ Since childhood, it has consistently accompanied high points for me; a major or strange event has affected my well-being.”

She takes me back to her youth, already making her debut starring in the stage in the production (she was chosen at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as lightheadedness and irregular beats. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the girl group Soul Deep while attending the Brit School. “I signed my initial contract, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was about to put out music in the year 2020 I had a automobile accident and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Hey, I say, slow down, I need a moment. At just 17? She nods|agrees