Singer Montell Jordan is opening up about how the late James Van Der Beek’s battle with cancer impacted his own journey with the disease.

“I think that James has a very, very profound journey that he’s been on,” Jordan, 57, exclusively told Us Weekly on Wednesday, February 11, just hours before Van Der Beek’s death was confirmed. “We are different, just from the standpoint of demographically, [storytelling] wise, as far as actors and musicians. I think it’s almost like, in this great big chess board of life, you have different pieces that make different moves.”

He continued, “I think the people that he’s going to reach may not be the same people that I reach, but ultimately the goal is for cancer to be exposed and to be killed before it kills. Trying to kill a killer and so from that standpoint, I’m appreciative of his story.”

Van Der Beek’s death was announced on February 11 via his Instagram. The actor first publicly revealed he was battling stage 3 colorectal cancer in November 2024, nearly one year after being diagnosed. He was 48.

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“Our beloved James David Van Der Beek passed peacefully this morning. He met his final days with courage, faith, and grace,” the statement from James’ wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, read in part. “There is much to share regarding his wishes, love for humanity and the sacredness of time. Those days will come. For now we ask for peaceful privacy as we grieve our loving husband, father, son, brother, and friend.”

Jordan, who discovered he had had been diagnosed with stage 1 prostate cancer in early 2024, said he had “heard” of the disease before his diagnosis, but it was “just often this distant thing, because it did not apply to me.”

Similarly to the Dawson’s Creek alum, Montell and his wife of nearly 32 years, Kristin Jordan, didn’t share the news publicly initially, not even telling their five children or family for the first six months.

“We didn’t say anything to them because we didn’t know how to really navigate that with them without them feeling like they were also carrying cancer,” Kristin told Us.

Eventually, they shared Montell’s diagnosis with their oldest children, who urged them to tell the others.

Revisit Late James Van Der Beek's Cancer Battle in His Own Words

“I think it’s critical, and that’s what we would find in our journey, is that it’s critical to share because the importance of sharing is it allows the load to be disseminated and not be so weighty and heavy because other people are carrying other pieces for it,” Kristin continued.

Montell underwent a prostatectomy soon after, which was declared successful. However, in 2025, scans determined that the cancer had returned in his lymph nodes and that he would need to undergo radiation. After his treatment, Montell and Kristin were able to celebrate the news that he was cancer-free for the second time with their close family on Christmas Day.

“In the medical profession because it’s 0.01 they never necessarily say you’re cancer free, but that is the closest they can say,” Montell told Us. “And so I believe it. We’ve received it that we’re cancer free, and being surrounded by the family and the kids and those that matter most, we reserve that just for us, you know internally as a family. And then the next day, we had a family photo shoot, and I felt like I’m able to maybe share with the rest of the world and friends [and] close loved ones that they could be let in on the good news.”

With February being National Cancer Prevention Month, Montell also emphasized the importance of early detection and how it “helps save lives.”

“That is a fact that prostate cancer is very, very treatable and curable if caught early,” Montell explained. “It was early detection that helped me make the decisions that I needed to make, and then even later on, when I had to go back and have some additional treatment through proton therapy, even then, it was because I was going back for regular checkups and screenings.”