James Van Der Beek strips off to raise awareness for cancer

James Van Der Beek is stripping off for new TV show The Real Full Monty to raise awareness for colorectal cancer. 

The Dawson's Creek actor, 47, revealed he had been diagnosed with cancer on his Instagram over the weekend, later clarifying People that it was colorectal cancer.

And now it's been revealed that James will join a group of male celebs on Fox's The Real Full Monty, a two-hour special where the stars will strip to spread awareness for prostate, testicular, and colorectal cancer testing and research.

The show will air in the US on December 9 with a teaser clip showing James alongside actors Taye Diggs and Anthony Anderson, Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones, Dancing With the Stars judge Bruno Tonioli and musician Tyler Posey stripping to his underwear in front of a live audience. 

The show is based on the UK show of the same name, which has been running since 2017, and will follow the six men as 'they train and rehearse for the most revealing performance of their careers, culminating with a big strip-tease dance, where they will bare all in front of a live audience.'

'Leading up to the final disrobing, the men will push their limits of comfortability, modesty and brotherhood with a series of rehearsals and experiences, both private and public, designed to build confidence and remove them far from their comfort zone and strengthen their bond as a group,' the description reads.

The celebs will each reveal how cancer has impacted them during the show, with an insider telling MailOnline that James 'was very open and talked about his diagnosis with the other contestants' during filming, which took place earlier this year.

'He really wants to help others by doing this show. He's always thinking of other people and wants to make a difference,' the insider added. 

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. 

In James' statement last week, he said he was sharing the news 'on his own terms' and apologised to the 'people in his life he had not had chance to tell personally first'.

He explained 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 and admitted it was before he would have liked to have gone public with it.

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

'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.

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

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

'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.

'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.

While it's unclear when James was first diagnosed, 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. 

Following his announcement, the Dawson's Creek star was praised by fans on social media, as they voiced their shock and sadness and sent him well-wishes, while many said they hoped his candidness would raise awareness for the disease. 

James shares six children with his wife Kimberly- daughter Olivia, 14; son Joshua, 12; daughter Annabel, 10; daughter Emilia, eight; daughter Gwendolyn, six; and son Jeremiah, three.