
Jessie J has issued an empowering yet refreshingly honest message as the year draws to a close.
Reflecting on her 2025, the pop star has admitted that while it’s been a ‘magical year’ for her, it’s also been one of the ‘hardest’.
As a result, she’s found herself ‘crying a lot’ as difficult emotions resurface while the internet shares its highlight reels and end-of-year achievements.
Taking to her Instagram Story this afternoon, the Price Tag hitmaker shared a close-up selfie of her teary eye, writing alongside it: ‘In a world full of “everything is fine, I’m happy, I’m good, life is perfect” there is Greif [sic] hurt pain sadness heartbreak and reflection and processing happening this time of year for many of us, along side the good and great or on it’s own.’
She continued earnestly: ‘This year has been heavy and hard in many ways for all of us, for me personally one of the hardest but most magical years of my life. Personally and professionally.’
Jessie added that ‘all the sadness has come up this week’, as it’s the first time she has ‘stopped’ both working and making public appearances for months.
‘So I’m crying a lot,’ she confessed.
‘Writing s**t down feeling really low tbh. The lowest I have felt in a while. An accumulation of stuff making its way to the surface and I’m letting it out.’
She then told her followers directly: ‘Don’t hold it in people. We are not superhuman or meant to be happy and positive all the time.
‘It’s healthy and normal to cry, and it someone you love is crying don’t say “oh don’t cry” say “come here”
‘Sending love to anyone feeling this way too right now. No positive end to this. Just I’m with ya. It’s s**t sometimes.’
Indeed, it’s been a turbulent year for Jessie, who spent much of it out of the spotlight due to health challenges.
On June 4, Jessie shared that she had been diagnosed with early breast cancer, a diagnosis she received in April.
Speaking in a video message at the time, she explained how she was ‘holding on’ to the word ‘early’.
‘I just wanted to be open and share it because selfishly, I do not talk about it enough,’ she added of her reasons for going public.
‘I’m not processing it because I’m working so hard. I also know how much sharing in the past has helped me with other people giving me their love and support, and also their own stories.
‘I’m an open book. It breaks my heart that so many people are going through so much. Similar and worse.’
Jessie said she was going to ‘disappear for a bit’ to undergo surgery, with her final performance being at the Capital Jingle Bell Ball in June, during which she declared to the thousands-strong crowd that she was off to ‘beat’ the disease.
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The award-winning star underwent a mastectomy to remove all breast tissue, which was a success.
Despite subsequent tests finding no further spread of the cancer, Jessie found out in August that she needed further treatment, forcing her to postpone her tour dates.
She assured her fans that it was ‘nothing too serious’ but admitted it made her feel ‘frustrated and sad’.
Jessie is also set to undergo reconstructive surgery to make her breasts look similar.
The mum-of-one, who shares little boy Sky with partner Chanan Colman, has since returned to the stage, sharing with the audience at BBC Radio 2 in the Park in Chelmsford in September how ‘grateful’ she felt to be there.
She also released her new album, Don’t Tease Me With A Good Time, in late November.
However, through her triumphs, Jessie has still been grappling with ‘guilt’, opening up in a new end-of-2025 interview with Women’s Health.
‘I feel guilty that not everyone who has to have cancer surgery gets that moment,’ Jessie told Women’s Health, reflecting on her last performance before her first op.
‘There were 80,000 people cheering, not because I could sing well or wore an outfit they liked. It was, “We love you, we’re behind you, and we hope this goes well.”
‘We’re not handcuffed to having to sit down and be quiet and cry because we’ve got cancer. I’m going to sing Bang Bang as loud as I can.’
She was also asked about her willingness to share her experiences so publicly, to which Jessie responded: ‘No one wants to see you look rough. And come back when it’s all done, and everything’s great.’
‘That ain’t me,’ she declared defiantly.
‘Even when I had the miscarriage, I did a show the next day,’ she said, having had a miscarriage in 2021. ‘I sat on stage, and I was grieving – and that was the show.’
As for what her career will look like in 2026, Jessie has teased exploring a few different avenues.
Speaking on the Women’s Health podcast, Just As Well, she shared: ‘I would love to do comedy more. I’d love to do film. I’m obviously touring a lot next year.’
‘Happy, sane, enjoying what I do, calm, healthy, being as present as a mum as I am at work with some decent tunes out,’ she concluded.
‘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.’
How to check for signs of breast cancer
CoppaFeel! offers these simple steps on how to check your own chest for signs of cancer.
Look
- Look at your boobs, pecs or chest.
- Look at the area from your armpit, across and beneath your boobs, pecs or chest, and up to your collarbone.
Be aware of any changes in size, outline or shape and changes in skin such as puckering or dimpling.
Feel
- Feel each of your boobs, pecs or chest.
- Feel the area from your armpit, across and beneath your boobs, pecs or chest, and up to your collarbone.
Be aware of any changes in skin such as puckering or dimpling, or any lumps, bumps or skin thickening which are different from the opposite side.
Notice your nipples
- Look at each of your nipples.
Be aware of any nipple discharge that’s not milky, any bleeding from the nipple, any rash or crusting on or around your nipple area that doesn’t heal easily and any change in the position of your nipple