James Van Der Beek revealed cancer diagnosis before telling family

James Van Der Beek has revealed he felt forced to reveal his cancer diagnosis with the world before he had the chance to tell his loved ones.

The actor, 47, shared his news on Instagram over the weekend but admitted it was before he would have liked to have gone public with it.

Sharing the announcement 'on his own terms', James apologised to the 'people in his life he had not had chance to tell personally first'.

James explained that he was told a tabloid was planning to run the news so rushed out a statement before he had the chance to tell certain people. 

He did not reveal what type of cancer he was diagnosed with in his post, though he told People that he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer.

He wrote: ''It is cancer…' Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I'm one of them,' he began.

'There's no playbook for how announce these things, but 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 added.

'But that plan had to be altered early this morning when I was informed that a tabloid was going to run with the news,' the actor continued.

'I've been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,' he continued.

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 'I'm in a good place and feeling strong. It's been quite the initiation, and I'll tell you more when I'm ready,' he insisted.

'Apologies to all the people in my life who I'd planned on telling myself. Nothing about this process has occurred on my preferred timeline,' he added. 

'But we roll with it, taking each surprise as a signpost, pointing us toward a greater destiny than we would have discovered without divine intervention,' he said.

'Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support. More to come…' he concluded.

The actor is slated to be one of the numerous celebrities to appear on Fox's The Real Full Monty, a two-hour special where celebs will strip to spread awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research.

He will be joined by Taye Diggs, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones and Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli.

While it's unclear when he was first diagnosed with cancer, it certainly hasn't slowed him down on the work front.

He most recently appeared in an episode of The CW's Walker and he'll next be seen in the Tubi film Sidelined: The QB and Me, debuting November 29. 

Those projects were his first since 2021, when he provided the voice for Boris in the Disney animated series Vampirina. 

The Van Der Beeks just celebrated Halloween on their 36-acre Texas ranch with their six children - daughter Olivia, 14; son Joshua, 12; daughter Annabel, 10; daughter Emilia, 8; daughter Gwendolyn, 6; and son Jeremiah, 3.

Earlier on Sunday, the Connecticut-born blond confirmed to People: '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. There's reason for optimism, and I'm feeling good.'

It's unclear what stage of colorectal cancer James has, but it reportedly starts in the colon or the rectum for one in 23 men on average with 65% surviving past five years.