Reflecting on the moment she first received the news, she recalled the emotional jolt in stark terms:
“Where do I even start? Shock,” she said on getting her diagnosis.
She described the period that followed as overwhelming and unfamiliar, a sudden plunge into medical and emotional uncertainty.
“You're trying to understand something you've never thought about before. It's a crash course. It's very deep and extended and it's still with me today in many ways.”
The singer, who spent around three decades living in London, shared these reflections in a new three-part documentary produced by Netflix, which traces key chapters of her personal and professional life.
Revisiting difficult chapters on screen
The documentary also returns to the early years of her fame, a period she now describes as emotionally difficult and, at times, humiliating due to intense media scrutiny.
Looking back at early interviews from her transition from Neighbours into pop music, she admitted the experience remains hard to process.
“When I see some of that footage back, I'm still as confounded as I was even as a 19-year-old,” she said.
“Sometimes it felt like just humiliation and having to sit within that frame and handle it.”
While she believes public treatment of young female stars has improved since then, she noted that the rise of social media has introduced its own pressures and forms of exposure that did not exist before.
Why she finally agreed to tell her story
For years, she resisted offers to participate in a documentary about her life. This time, however, she felt the timing was right to take a more honest and complete look back.
“I've been asked many times and I always said no,” she told BBC London.
Her eventual decision came down to a sense of timing and readiness.
“If not now, when?”
She also acknowledged that revisiting painful memories required emotional effort, especially when confronting old footage and personal moments she had long compartmentalised.
“In the end, I just had to take the plunge and really open myself up a little more,” she said.
Looking forward: music, acting, and Hyde Park memories
Despite the weight of the past, she also spoke about the future with enthusiasm. Music, she said, remains central to her life and identity, describing it as both grounding and sustaining.
She also expressed interest in returning to acting, suggesting she would like to balance both creative paths moving forward.
In addition, she hinted at a possible return to performing at Hyde Park, reflecting on a previous appearance there in 2024.
“I'll see you again at Hyde Park,” she said, before adding: “I said that like I'm assuming I'm going to play Hyde Park again. Maybe I will. It was amazing.”