Jessie J has opened up about a surprise career change as she revealed her plans to try out as a comedian and actress next year in a steer away from music.
The singer, who was diagnosed with breast cancer this year, appeared on the Women’s Health UK Just As Well podcast where she detailed her hopes for the next year as well as how having a child caused her to address her ADHD.
Revealing her hopes of branching out into comedy, Jessie said: ‘Next year I’d love to go into stand up. I would love to do comedy more. I’d love to do film.’
Jessie has previously acted in musical theatre and voice roles, starting from childhood in productions like Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Whistle Down the Wind.
She later worked on films like Ice Age: Collision Course as a voice actor, showcasing her background as a trained performer.Â
Jessie- whose real name is Jessica Cornish – insisted she won’t be straying too far from her musical routes and will also be working on new music and heading on tour.
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Jessie J has opened up about a surprise career change as she revealed her plans to try out as a comedian and actress next year in a steer away from music
She said: ‘I’m obviously touring a lot next year. I definitely want to make more music. I haven’t written a song for three years, but I know it’s all there ready to come out.
‘I just want to be happy. Happy, sane, enjoying what I do, calm, healthy, being as present as a mum as I am as at work with some decent tunes out.Â
‘And maybe doing something that challenges me, whether it’s a book or a children’s album or comedy or Broadway or film, whatever’s going to come will come.’
Elsewhere during the conversation, Jessie discussed being diagnosed with ADHD in 2023 after giving birth to her son Sky, two, who she shares with her partner Chanan Colman.
Jessie explained that after becoming a mother she was unable to mask her neurodivergence as she struggled with ‘burnout’.Â
She explained: ‘It was when I had a baby. I just could not hide it anymore…When I got the responsibility of Sky, and just the way my brain runs, when you’re a new mum…the burnout days were insane…
‘So I got diagnosed and then I’ve really been working on it, having some therapy, learning about what it feels like, when it gets worse, what makes it better.’
Jessie told how she has also developed ODC ‘off the back’ of her ADHD, which leaves her feeling like everything may fall apart if one thing goes wrong.
The singer, who was diagnosed with breast cancer this year, appeared on the Women’s Health UK Just As Well podcast where she detailed her hopes for the next year as well as how having a child caused her to address her ADHD
Elsewhere during the conversation, Jessie discussed being diagnosed with ADHD in 2023 after giving birth to her son Sky, two, who she shares with her partner Chanan ColmanÂ
She said: ‘I’m working on it to improve it and to be the best version of myself, but also celebrate that that’s how my brain works, and that’s okay…I do believe that if ADHD is in the right environment, it’s a superpower, you know?’
Speaking on building a world that allows her to flourish, she said: ‘The way my brain works, and the things that I can get done in a day is not normal for most people.Â
‘My time management, because my OCD’s come off the back of my ADHD…I style myself, I do so much myself because I am organised and I love that about myself.
‘Some days I can fall off the ladder and land in a pile of s*it…Everyone goes “okay, now it’s time to slow it down and I listen.”
‘I never used to when I was younger, but I listen now. I feel like I’m building a world around me that means that I can flourish in my ADHD and not feel like I’m hiding.’
Explaining the mindfulness strategies she has in place, Jessie revealed how repeating a certain word can help her clear her mind.Â
She said: ”I don’t know what it’s called, but I’ve done it for absolutely years. I’ve got my word that I can’t tell anyone. But you make up a word…I meditate by repeating that word in my head and I see it written out.Â
Pictured with her basketball playing partner Chanan
‘And if I distract, if I close my eyes now and go to my word and I write it out in my brain…If I go off where I’m thinking ‘what am I gonna have for dinner tonight?’ Then I go back to the word and I just keep repeating.Â
‘And over the time, over that practice, your brain will train itself to calm down if you think of that word.Â
‘So if I’m on a plane that’s turbulent, I’ll close my eyes, I see the word and instantly my brain goes, “okay, we’re shutting down”. And that helps me – I have to do it at awards ceremonies when it’s really loud and there’s lots of people.’
Jessie’s new album, Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time, is out now
The full Just As Well episode with Jessie J is available now on all major podcast platforms
