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You can’t imagine it, the singer says. There she was preparing for her first album release in nearly a decade, ecstatically in love with her current love, and finally the mother of a toddler after dealing with conception issues for ten years, riding high. Then in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, actual name Jessica Cornish, is famous for telling it as it is. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an transparent story, addressing every ounce of devastation she’d faced since she last recorded music (endometriosis, miscarriage, unsuccessful partnerships, psychological manipulation, mental health struggles) with characteristic openness. The lead track, the song No Secrets, was launched in April. But by then there existed a huge secret. The illness. Later follow-up track, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and Cornish was talking to press about how she was thriving, while still secretly dealing with her cancer. Subsequently she shared the news, and in early July she received surgical treatment.

She shoots me her best “Seriously?” expression. “I put out with a song called No Secrets. I’m doing every media appearance, and they ask, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I’m, like, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” Cornish has just had to cancel tour dates because she’s still waiting for reconstructive surgery.

We meet at a photo studio in London. She is sporting a light brown synthetic jacket, jeans with elaborate white patches, off-white boots and large glasses. Imagine biker chic meets vintage look. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Like the film, I say, recalling the film. “I was nicknamed that in school!” She grins. She is fast-thinking, bold and blunt. She says she has always wanted to try comedy and is hoping to make her first comedy performance in the coming year. “I love making people laugh. On stage I frequently joke about the crowd.”

Medical Challenges and Discovery

She was preparing for an appearance at the ceremony when she discovered a mass. “I promptly visited to get it examined, had an test, and they said, ‘It seems benign; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘Yet I sense it. I have arm pain and numbness in my fingers whenever I get up.’ And they replied, ‘How about a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The specialist told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then she had assured herself it was fine. The way she describes it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had a busy schedule.

“It was a fortnight prior from releasing the album after a long hiatus and four years without a single. 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 log in believing it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Please take a seat.’ You know that sad tone they use? And she says, ‘I’m so, so sorry but your test results have indicated malignant cells.’” What was your reaction? “I replied, ‘That’s unfortunate. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt 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. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a gown on and my backside out. Like a dystopian scene.” But, Cornish says, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but however Luckily it was detected early. The surgery happened four months ago and my affected breast now looks like a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The next operation is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her chest, she notes, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. So inconsiderate! I thought, no need to bully me, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! It’s funny because I said I’d never get my boobs done because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

She is no stranger to illness. She thinks her perspective on the cancer has been so upbeat because she’s used to physical challenges. Many times they occur alongside peak moments, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or shock, to make her recall not to assume everything is fine. “Frankly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ From a young age, it has always gone alongside high points for me; a major or strange event has happened to my health.”

She takes me back to her 11-year-old self, already beginning starring in the London theater in the production (she was cast at the age of nine). That’s when she was diagnosed with the heart condition a syndrome, which can cause a rapid pulse as well as dizziness and palpitations. “I attended rehearsals intermittently on an drip, and going back into hospital at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has entered the girl group Soul Deep while enrolled in the performing arts school. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was about to put out music in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I lost my voice for a twelve months.”

Oi, I say, slow down, I need a moment. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees