James Van Der Beek Feeling ‘Really Strong’ After Cancer Diagnosis

Speaking with TooFab exclusively ahead of the release of his upcoming Fox special The Real Fully Monty, Van Der Beek said he’s feeling “great” after revealing his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis in early November.

“Thank you, yeah, feeling really strong, in a very good place,” the actor told TooFab.

His diagnosis is part of the reason he signed onto the special, which shows him stripping alongside stars including Anthony Anderson, Taye Diggs, Tyler Posey and Bruno Tonioli.

“I got word that there was a special called The Real Full Monty that Anthony [Anderson] was heading up and the idea was to raise awareness about early cancer detection and also kind of knock away the stigma that a lot of men have around getting tested. And I thought, ‘Oh, well, that’s brilliant.’ I knew immediately I was doing it, my brain took a little convincing after that,” he admitted.

The heart of the two-hour show is a message of awareness for prostate, testicular and colorectal cancer testing and research.

“I knew immediately, okay, this is something I have to do regardless of how uncomfortable it might be. But that’s kind of the point of it. If we can get on stage and learn to dance and strip in front of thousands of people alive, you can have a conversation with your doctor and get checked and it might save your life,” he shared.

Of his costars, he said, “This is a great crew.”

“One of things I knew that this would be, would be a really good group of men, a really supportive group,” he told TooFab. “And that’s exactly what it was. And it really made me realize how how important it is to reach out to people and get your team together.”

Inspired by the 1997 film The Full Monty, and based on The Real Full Monty unscripted format first broadcast on the U.K.’s ITV in 2017, the special shows the cast train and rehearse for a big strip-tease dance choreographed by Mandy Moore (So You Think You Can Dance) in front of a live audience.

As for how his family feels about the idea of him stripping on stage, the actor said they understood the assignment.

“My 14-year-old, God bless her was like, ‘I don’t see the downside.’ I was like, ‘Wow, you’re a cool human,’ She got it, she understood it,” before sharing how his wife Kimberly reacted.

“She was a little shocked that I was going do it, but she understood it 100 percent and has been very supportive,” he added.

Van Der Beek lives on a ranch in Texas with and his wife Kimberly and their six kids — Olivia, 14, Joshua, 12, Annabel, 10, Emilia, 8, Gwen, 6, and Jeremiah, 3.

Van Der Beek is hoping to raise awareness about the disease by opening up about his journey so far on the show.

“That’s one of the reasons I want to talk about it and the reason I’m talking about it so openly,” the 47-year-old told PEOPLE in November. “I’ve been dealing with this pretty much in secret for a while, and in the past, I’ve found it helpful and cathartic to share things publicly.”

“And I’ve found a lot of support that way,” he added. “But more than that, I really wanted to raise awareness.”

Van Der Beek revealed his stage 3 colorectal cancer diagnosis came as a shock, claiming his family has no history of cancer and he took care of his body and his nutrition.

“I’d always associated cancer with age and with unhealthy, sedentary lifestyles. But I was in amazing cardiovascular shape. I tried to eat healthy — or as far as I knew it at the time,” he told the outlet.

The father of six said he noticed changes in his bowel movements in the summer of 2023. He presumed it was his diet and decided he should “stop coffee” or try not putting “cream in the coffee.”

“But when I cut that out and it didn’t improve, I thought, ‘All right, I better get this checked out.'”

The first step was a colonoscopy which he wasn’t worried about, until the gastroenterologist walked in.

“I felt really good coming out of anesthesia, that I’d finally done it,” he said. “Then the gastroenterologist said — in his most pleasant bedside manner — that it was cancer. I think I went into shock.”

The all-new two-hour special, The Real Full Monty, premieres on Monday, December 9 at 8PM ET/PT on FOX and streams the following day on HULU.