Jessie J: I Quit Music, Deleted An Album, Then Changed My Mind | E139

Jessie J sits down with Stephen Bartlett for an unusually raw, emotional conversation about her life beyond the stage. She recounts a childhood marked by a heart condition (WPW), a stroke at 17, and later endometriosis and adenomyosis that doctors said would make having children difficult. She describes how sudden fame in 2014-2016 left her feeling trapped, watched and unable to live normally, and how she repeatedly fires managers searching for a team that shares her passion. Much of the episode centers on recent grief: a miscarriage she went through largely alone in LA, and the deaths of mentor Jamal Edwards and her longtime security guard Dave. She closes by describing her next chapter: acting on her instincts, making music she truly loves, developing a one-woman show, and preparing to try for a family.

• She was about to release a new album and single but a car accident, throat nerve/tissue damage and going deaf in one ear (Meniere's) derailed it.
  00:12:58
• She listened to her finished album a couple of months ago, decided 'this ain't it,' and went back into the studio three days before recording to start again.
  00:35:37
• After losing her grandparents in 2016 she told her label to drop her and quit music entirely.
  00:52:48
• Writing 'Think About That' for a Make Up For Ever campaign reignited her songwriting and became the first single of The Rose.
  00:55:47
• She reveals the cluster of recent grief: a miscarriage, the death of Jamal Edwards, and the death of her security guard Dave.
  01:00:57
• After being told her baby's heartbeat was very low, she refused bloodwork and got a second opinion hours later confirming there was no heartbeat.
  01:13:26
• The first thing her team asked after the miscarriage was what she wanted to do about the show the next day, which shifted how she processed the loss.
  01:14:28
• She discusses a very public past relationship with one of the biggest actors, describing colliding personal traumas and intense media scrutiny.
  01:36:23

• She was in and out of hospital as a child and was once on a drip during rehearsals for Bugsy Malone.
  00:05:44
• Her first-ever song, Big White Room, was inspired by a dying boy she watched in a children's ward.
  00:08:50
• She manages her heart condition holistically, takes no medication, and went plant-based to manage endometriosis pain.
  00:10:25
• At 26 a doctor recommended a hysterectomy; she declined and chose to manage the pain instead.
  00:20:45
• She says her status became higher than her money, and she couldn't afford a driver despite being unable to take public transport.
  00:28:57
• About 1.2 billion people watched the final of the Chinese singing show she did, and she bit her tongue bloody from stress before singing Whitney.
  00:49:33
• She describes her career as a shop that 'sells ladders outside but rose is on the inside,' meaning her public output isn't her true self.
  00:55:14
• In Australia she and her security guard Dave bought binoculars and watched for whales, creating a private code word 'wow.'
  01:28:38
• She wrote her autobiography and got a book deal at 12 years old.
  01:34:48

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