James Van Der Beek has expressed his gratitude for "all the love and support" he and his family have received following his cancer diagnosis.
In an interview with US magazine People, the star of Dawson's Creek revealed that he has been privately battling colorectal cancer but remains optimistic.The 47-year-old took to Instagram to share his diagnosis, apologising to those close to him who found out through the media.
He said: "'It is cancer...' Each year, approximately 2 billion people around the world receive this diagnosis. And I'm one of them." He added: "There's no playbook for how (to) 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." However, his plans changed when he discovered a tabloid was about to break the news.