‘It has taught me to embrace life more’: Jessica Cornish on her health battle, career returns and conquering the Chinese market

You couldn’t make it up, the singer remarks. At that moment gearing up for her comeback record in nearly a decade, blissfully happy with her current love, and finally the mom to a little one after facing fertility challenges for a decade, riding high. Suddenly in March she was found to have a breast cancer diagnosis.

The singer-songwriter, real name Jessica Cornish, is famous for speaking her mind. The LP, the provocatively titled album, was supposed to be an candid account, dealing with every ounce of devastation she’d endured since she last worked on songs (endometrial issues, pregnancy loss, failed relationships, gaslighting, mental health struggles) with typical candour. The initial release, No Secrets, was released in the spring. But by then there was a mighty secret. The illness. Later second single, Living My Best Life, was released in late spring and the artist was giving interviews about how she was thriving, while all the while living with the disease. Four weeks after she shared the news, and in July she underwent breast removal surgery.

She offers me her best “What the fuck?” glance. “I come out with a song called No Secrets. I’m giving every interview, and they’re, like, ‘So what’s new with you?’ and I respond, ‘Well, not much…’” she has just had to call off performances because she’s awaiting follow-up surgery.

We’re at a photography studio in the capital. She is wearing a tan faux-leather coat, jeans with detailed white appliqués, off-white boots and big frames. Imagine motorcycle style meets 70s singer aesthetic. “As if I’m in the 1970s and I should have a boyfriend with a big tache.” Easy Rider, I say, referencing the picture. “That’s what people called me at school!” She grins. Jessie is sharp-witted, irreverent and blunt. She says she has always fancied doing comedy and is planning to attempt her standup debut next year. “I enjoy humor. On stage I basically roast the fans.”

Health Struggles and Diagnosis

The artist was planning an appearance at the awards show when she discovered a mass. “I quickly sought to get it checked, had an scan, and they said, ‘It appears fine; your breasts are normal.’ And I was, like, ‘But I can feel it. I’ve got an achy arm and pins and needles in my hands whenever I get up.’ And they said, ‘We should biopsy it?’ That was 28 March, the post-birthday.” It was a Friday. The doctor told her if it was concerning she’d contact on the Monday. By then the singer had convinced herself it was okay. The way she explains it, it was just bad timing to receive a diagnosis when she had so much on.

“Just two weeks before from releasing the album after years away and four years without a single. And she contacted me and said, ‘Is six okay?’ And I thought, ‘A video call, likely minor.’ So I log in thinking it’s all going to be good, and she informs me, ‘Are you sitting down?.’ That sympathetic voice? And she reveals, ‘I regret to inform you but your test results have indicated high-grade cancer cells.’” How did you respond? “I answered, ‘Well, that’s not great. What awful timing.’ Immediately I felt was, ‘I can’t die because my son needs me.’”

I’ve been labeled difficult for knowing myself

She viewed the procedure frightening and surreal. “I fear going under. They lead you. You know when you have emergency surgery you are wheeled, but then I just strolled down with a medical attire and my bum hanging out. You feel like you’re in an episode of Black Mirror.” But, she adds, she’s been lucky. Without chemo or radio, just the procedure. “It’s terrible, but you know what? Luckily it was detected early. I had the mastectomy a few months back and my affected breast now resembles a odd shape.” Another grin. “I got to keep the nipple, though.”

The follow-up procedure is for health and appearance. Her breasts, she observes, are now “different sizes. They didn’t do an implant as small as my original. So inconsiderate! I felt, don’t add insult to injury, I’m already having a difficult experience. How offensive! Ironically I said I’d not undergo augmentation because I’ve got OCD, and I know they’d never be ideal. Illness changed that.”

A History of Health Challenges

She is no stranger to illness. She feels her outlook on her diagnosis has been so upbeat because she’s familiar with health crises. They have often coincided with professional successes, serving as a tap on the shoulder, or punch in the stomach, to remind her not to take anything for granted. “Truly, I feel life goes, ‘Things going well? Take a seat.’ From a young age, it has often paired with achievements for me; a serious or unusual issue has affected my well-being.”

She recalls to her childhood, already making her debut starring in the London theater in Whistle Down the Wind (she was cast at the age of nine years old). That’s when she was told about the heart condition 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 returning to the hospital at night.” She jumps ahead half a dozen years, and young Jessica has entered the female band Soul Deep while studying at the Brit School. “I just got my first record deal, and I had a brain incident. Then when I was planning to release songs in recently I had a car crash and my voice box shifted and I couldn’t sing for a year.”

Wow, I say, slow down, I can’t keep up. At just 17? She nods|agrees