“Well, I gotta be honest in my professional life it’s been pretty crap this year – like so many other people,” The Real Dirty Dancing star told host Kate de Brito.
“A lot of my work has gone, it’s disappeared because a lot of my work has been talking to people, hosting events, advocating for mental health but doing that with people, with an audience.
“It’s been hard and like so many other people you do have to reinvent yourself and I think for me I’ve tried very much through my whole life, it’s been a series of reinventions,” she said.
Jess went on to say that despite her optimistic approach to life, the past 12 months have still been a bit of a challenge and she has struggled along the way.
“I’ve really struggled this year because what I thrive on is people, is connecting with people, having conversations," she admitted.
“And I find what I do is in the supermarket I do a bit of a song and dance routine lining up in the supermarket for people and I’m sure they look at me behind my mask and think ‘what is that crazy lady doing?’” she quipped.
When Jess then admitted she misses engaging with audiences, Kate asked whether the former TV presenter ever gets tired of hustling.
“Well, I like to think of it not as not being a hustle,” Jess replied.
“I think sometimes in life things happen that are beyond our control but what we can control is how we decide to deal with it.
“That was a really good life lesson that my mum taught me,” she added, before explaining how she takes a proactive approach to solving problems, rather than laying blame on others.
“There have been various times in both my professional and personal life where I’ve thought ‘OK, enough wallowing, time to think what can I do, how can I find a sense of joy, what can I do that will bring me a sense of happiness and contentment?’” she said.
Later in the interview, Jess reflected on her emotional departure from Studio 10, in which she admitted she knew it was the right time to leave.
“When I decided to leave Studio 10 I’d been there five years, it was the best job I’ve ever had in media because I think I was happy within myself,” she said.
“I could be all parts of myself… I loved that job, but it came to a point where I thought ‘you know what I’m not happy anymore doing this.’"
She added that she knew in herself it was the right decision, saying: “My heart was saying to me you are tired, you are juggling too much and you aren’t happy.”
