A former contestant from “Dancing with the Stars” recently went public with his cancer diagnosis. On December 3, James Van Der Beek appeared on “Good Morning America” to share some updates about how he is doing.
The season 28 DWTS talked with GMA correspondent Robin Roberts and she noted he received his colorectal cancer diagnosis about a year and a half ago. Van Der Beek admitted, “It’s really a ride.”
He noted it’s been a tough journey. At the same time, the “Dawson’s Creek” alum noted after the diagnosis he immediately started making life changes to ensure he’ll be around for many years yet to come.
Van Der Beek aims to be able to look back on his cancer journey 30 years from now and “Thank God this happened.”
James Van Der Beek Was Shocked to Learn He Had Cancer
Van Der Beek shared, “Physically I’m great, I’m feeling really good. Emotionally, you know, it’s a lot. It’s really a ride.”
When he initially received his cancer diagnosis, the “Dawson’s Creek” alum admitted, “I was honestly in shock.” He noted he thought he was doing everything he needed to do to lead a healthy life. He wasn’t expecting the news he received.
“I had a whole agenda for what I thought my year would be and what I thought my prayers would do,” Van Der Beek said of life before the diagnosis.
Despite feeling shaken by learning he had cancer, he leaned into his optimism. “As soon as I got diagnosed, I knew, this is gonna add many happy years to my life. I’m gonna make changes that I would never have made otherwise that I’ll look back on in 30 years and say, ‘Thank God this happened.’”
From there, Van Der Beek worked to determine what steps he could take to ensure that outcome.
“That’s how I was about about 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent of the time I was a sobbing mess. I feel like that’s a pretty good percentage.”
The DWTS Alum Encouraged Others With Cancer to Always Maintain Hope
Van Der Beek noted his gratitude that he managed to keep the cancer diagnosis private for as long as he did. He went public with the information when he did in part due to a tabloid contacting him about it.
Despite the tabloid’s plans to run a story on the diagnosis, the actor noted he’d been working on plans to go public anyway.
He explained, “Having been in the public eye as long as I have, as soon as this happened, I thought, you know, there’s going to be a purpose for this. I think by sharing this, I can do some good.”
“As amazing and cathartic as this year has been, it’s been tough,” Van Der Beek admitted. He hopes by sharing his experience, he may help others avoid experiencing the same thing.
Van Der Beek shared, “There’s always hope.” He emphasized, “Have hope, you’re not alone.”
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