The former Dawson’s Creek star James Van Der Beek, 47, sadly revealed to fans that he has been diagnosed with colorectal cancer.
Worse, he was forced to reveal this before he could tell his loved ones because a tabloid threatened to expose the news to the world.
Van Der Beek Forced To Reveal His Cancer Diagnosis
In order to reveal his own diagnosis “on his own terms,” Van Der Beek was forced to put out a rushed statement on Instagram on Sunday.
“I’d planned on talking about it at length with People magazine at some point soon… to raise awareness and tell my story on my own terms,” he wrote. “But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news.”
Van Der Beek went on to apologize “to all the people in my life who I’d planned on telling myself.”
The actor further opened up about his diagnosis to People Magazine.
“I have colorectal cancer. I’ve been privately dealing with this diagnosis and have been taking steps to resolve it, with the support of my incredible family,” he said. “There’s reason for optimism, and I’m feeling good.”
Colorectal Cancer
According to the American Cancer Society, colorectal cancer starts in the colon or the rectum for one in 23 men on average. It’s unclear what stage Van Der Beek’s cancer is at. However, thankfully, colorectal cancer has a 65% survival rate past five years.
Last week, Van Der Beek celebrated Halloween on his 36-acre ranch in Texas with his wife Kimberly and their six children: daughter Olivia, 14; son Joshua, 12; daughter Annabel, 10; daughter Emilia, 8; daughter Gwendolyn, 6; and son Jeremiah, 3.
Related: James Van Der Beek Has Five Important Reasons He Moved To Texas – His Kids
It is not known when exactly Van Der Beek was diagnosed with cancer. However, it hasn’t slowed his Hollywood career down one bit! Van Der Beek recently appeared in an episode of Walker. He will next be starring in Sidelined: The QB and Me. This Tubi original film will come out on November 29.
Find out more about Van Der Beek’s cancer diagnosis in the video below.
Van Der Beek’s Upcoming Special
Next month, Van Der Beek will star in The Real Full Monty. This will be a two-hour special in which a group of male celebrities will strip down to raise awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research. The special is inspired by the Oscar-nominated 1997 movie The Full Monty.
Others taking part in the special include actor Taye Diggs and Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones. Longtime Dancing with the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli is set to participate as well. The Hollywood star Anthony Anderson of black-ish fame is executive producing the special.
“Embarrassingly, I thought I was just doing Anthony Anderson a favor and supporting cancer,” Diggs recently said. “But then once we got there and we really started to talk about these issues, everyone started opening up and we got to know each other on a different level.”
Related: Here’s Why James Van Der Beek Moved His Family From LA To Texas
It’s despicable that a tabloid threatened to reveal Van Der Beek’s cancer diagnosis before he was ready to do so. Please join us in saying a prayer for Van Der Beek as his cancer battle continues.
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