Singer Jessie J has opened up about her cancer journey as well as meeting Princess of Wales Kate Middleton, and shared her experience juggling motherhood and recovery
Jessie has postponed her No Secrets UK and European tour while awaiting a second operation(Image: Getty Images)
Jessie J has spoken about having breast cancer and what the disease has taught her about life.
The Price Tag singer and mum-of-one, 37, had surgery in the summer and is waiting for a second round. The star also revealed her delight at meeting the Princess of Wales, who was treated for cancer last year, at the Royal Variety Performance. Speaking about her time with Kate, 43, last week she said: “I hugged the princess!”
Jessie has postponed her No Secrets UK and European tour until 2026 while she waits for a second operation later this year. She said of her diagnosis: “I’m just grateful for the lessons and grateful, honestly, for the connectivity that has given me with so many people having cancer.
Jessie J says the encounter with Kate was a “heartfelt” moment she will never forget(Image: AP)The hitmaker has been open about her cancer journey(Image: Jessie J /Instagram)
“I wouldn’t have had the beautiful conversations that I’ve had. And I’ve been a better parent, I’ve been a better person. I’ve honestly not sweated the small stuff.” She continued: “Some things that used to stress me out don’t any more, because when life turns into something that you feel like you can’t control, you just gotta sit the f*** down.”
Jessie found a lump in her breast in March and had a mastectomy. She said: “I had my surgery and took very little time off.” Describing it as a “weird time”, she said: “When I had cancer and nobody knew… I wanted to make all these jokes. Now I have one post-baby boob and one orange under a bedsheet.
“It’s still quite funny but it’s not. But it is also quite funny. But I’m just really grateful that I got through it. And I’m on the other side, almost, and I’ve got a little bit more to do. But all of us are going to go through or have been through something really hard that we feel like we carry on our own.”
For the Royal Variety Performance, Jessie sang her track I’ll Never Know Why from her sixth album in tribute to her late pal Dave, who was her security guard. She said: “I sang it because I knew it would reach people that are on their sofas at home, feeling like sh*t. And I wanted to let them know that I see them.”
The Price Tag singer recalls hugging the Princess of Wales after her surgery(Image: Getty Images)
The star has previously said she and Kate had discussed working together on suicide prevention. Jessie opened up about her other health struggles, including a car accident in 2020 that damaged her larynx and affected her voice, and a miscarriage in 2021.
Cheekily, she described the Royal Variety Performance as being “like a school assembly with a big budget.”She said: “It was random because Paddington Bear was on right before me… Everyone’s on the stage at the end, like ‘Oh, it’s a cast of Les Mis and me and like Stephen Fry.”
“And then we go in to meet the royals, which is amazing.” Speaking about her son Sky, two – her boy with basketball pro Chanan Colman – she said: “He’s the joy of my whole entire world. It’s like Christmas morn-ing every time I wake up and I hear him.”
Describing herself as a very hands-on parent, she said at the launch of her new album, Don’t Tease Me With a Good Time, which is out on Friday: “I’m a very Aries, fire-signy, micromanaging mum. A micro-mum.”
She took Sky on stage with her at Radio 2 in the Park in Chelmsford, Essex, in September – and he is apparently keen to repeat the experience. Jessie said: “He’s so funny. He’s like, ‘Can I come to work?’ I can’t tell him I’m going to work, because he wants to come.”
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