‘It has taught me to embrace life more’: Jessica Cornish on cancer, career returns and cracking China

You wouldn’t believe it, the singer states. At that moment readying for her comeback record in eight years, deeply enamored with her newish partner, and at long last the mother of a toddler after facing fertility challenges for a decade, feeling invincible. Then in March she was told she had breast cancer.

The artist, real name Jessica Cornish, is known for speaking her mind. The album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, was supposed to be an open book, tackling every bit of hardship she’d experienced since she last made an album (endometriosis, losing a baby, broken romances, psychological manipulation, suicide) with her usual frankness. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. Her diagnosis. Then second single, her song Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was talking to press about how she was living her best life, while at the same time living with her cancer. Subsequently she disclosed her condition, and in early July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “Seriously?” look. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m conducting every media appearance, and they’re, like, ‘Any updates?’ and I answer, ‘Erm, yeah, nothing …’” the singer has just had to postpone shows because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We meet at a photography studio in London. She is dressed in a beige fake-leather jacket, blue jeans with detailed white appliqués, cream boots and big frames. Picture rocker vibe meets 1970s Nana Mouskouri. “It seems like I’m in the 70s and I should have a partner with a mustache.” A biker reference, I say, thinking of the film. “That’s what people called me at school!” She beams. She is fast-thinking, unfiltered and direct. She says she has always been interested in humor and is planning to attempt her initial standup show next year. “I like entertaining. During performances I frequently joke about the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was preparing for an slot at the Baftas when she discovered a mass. “I immediately went to get it examined, had an ultrasound, and they told me, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I insisted, ‘Yet I sense it. My arm hurts and pins and needles in my hands whenever I wake up.’ And they replied, ‘Well, let’s just do a biopsy?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was bad news she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had persuaded herself it was nothing. The way she explains it, it was inopportune to receive a diagnosis when she had many commitments.

“We’re two weeks away from launching this thing after a long hiatus and four years without a single. And she [the doctor] texted and said, ‘Can you talk at six?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I jump on the Zoom thinking it’s all going to be good, and she goes, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she says, ‘Unfortunately but your test results have come back as aggressive cancer.’” What was your reaction? “I answered, ‘Oh, that’s not ideal, is it?. That’s not fucking great timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I have to survive for my boy.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She found the surgery terrifying and absurd. “I fear going under. They lead you. During crises you are wheeled, but now I just walked with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. It felt surreal.” But, she adds, she’s been blessed. No chemo, no radiotherapy, just the surgery. “Cancer is awful, but however Thank fuck I found it early. I underwent removal recently and my one side now appears as a odd shape.” Another grin. “At least the nipple remains.”

The follow-up procedure is therapeutic and aesthetic. Her breasts, she remarks, are now “asymmetrical. The size doesn’t match. How rude! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a rough time. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got perfectionism, and I know they’d never be flawless. Cancer ruined that plan.”

Past Medical Issues

She is familiar with health problems. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so optimistic because she’s experienced in health crises. They have often coincided with career highs, acting as a reminder, or punch in the stomach, to highlight not to assume everything is fine. “Honestly, I feel the universe whispers, ‘Enjoying yourself? Sit down.’ Since childhood, it has often paired with moments of success for me; a serious or unusual issue has happened to my health.”

She reminisces to her youth, already making her debut featuring in the stage in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of 9). That’s when she was told about the medical problem WPW, which can cause a tachycardia as well as lightheadedness and palpitations. “I was going in and out of rehearsals on an IV drip, and being readmitted at night.” She jumps ahead several years, and 17-year-old Jess has become part of the girl group the group while enrolled in the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a cerebral event. Then when I was ready to debut in the year 2020 I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a twelve months.”

Wow, I say, hold on, I am overwhelmed. You really had a stroke at 17? She nods|agrees