With humor, honesty, and self-mockery, Jessie J spoke about her experience with breast cancer during a concert in New York, as part of her No Secrets Tour. The 37-year-old British singer took the stage at Irving Plaza and spoke openly about her diagnosis, the mastectomy that followed, and how the illness changed her outlook on life.

“Last year was the year of perspective. It was the year I learned to choose my battles,” she told the audience, reminding them that she revealed her diagnosis in June 2025, just before releasing her new album Don’t Tease Me with a Good Time. “Being diagnosed with breast cancer ten days before releasing an album for the first time in years was, honestly, the rudest thing my boobs could ever do. I mean, seriously?” she joked, drawing laughter from the crowd.

Jessie J admitted that her humor often catches people off guard. “No one knows how to react when I start making jokes about ‘boob cancer,’” she said, explaining that humor was her own defense mechanism during a difficult period.

Speaking more personally, she described that time as both an inner conflict and a reconciliation. “It was a strange period. It was like Jessica and Jessie J had to hold each other. And Jessica helped Jessie J, and Jessie J helped Jessica — as a mother, as an artist, as a friend, as a daughter,” she said, emphasizing that all of this came together into a new perspective on life. “It wasn’t ‘I’m becoming something else.’ It was ‘this is who I am.’ And I embraced it.”

Referring to life after the mastectomy, she didn’t hesitate to joke again, saying she now has “asymmetrical breasts.” “It’s fine. I can handle it. They’re not related right now… but I can sing, so it’s all good,” she said, prompting warm applause.

In closing, she addressed those in the audience who have gone through — or are going through — similar struggles. “To anyone who has had cancer, is dealing with it now, or may face it in the future: hold on. Hold on tight. Eat well, feel good, surround yourself with good people. A positive mindset doesn’t cure everything, but it helps. And illness, whenever it comes, just sucks.”