James Van Der Beek and his wife, Kimberly Van Der Beek, are soaking up the holiday season.
Kimberly, 43, took to Instagram on Sunday, December 21, to share a cozy photo of James, 48, with his arm wrapped around her. “Me and my bae @vanderjames,” she captioned the happy snap which appeared to be taken outside their Texan ranch.
The photo, which showed James dressed in a warm winter knit paired with loose pants and Kimberly donning a full-length cherry-red dress, comes several days after James publicly addressed fan concern over the significant weight he has lost amid his two-year cancer battle.
Interviewed for the Friday, December 19, episode of the Today show, James touched on the fan concern after speaking about his absence from the Dawson’s Creek live reading staged in New York City in September. “I’d lost so much weight because of the stomach virus,” he said on the show, clarifying that the change in his appearance was “not cancer-related.”
James added, “Although with cancer, everything’s like, ‘Why don’t we supersize that stomach virus?’”
The interview also included James’ reflections on his health as he recalled the moment he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer, which he publicly announced in November 2024. “I went into shock. But you know, one of the things I was really lucky about was as soon as I heard the news, I thought, ‘This is gonna be the best thing to ever happen to me.’ … I had this little voice in my head that said, ‘You’re gonna make changes in your life that you would never, ever make if you didn’t have this extreme of a diagnosis, and it’s gonna add healthy, happy years to your life,’” he told the outlet.
The actor also attributed important life lessons to his cancer journey. “I don’t think I knew what it was to slow down before … to really look at everything I eat, everything I put in my body. Really, the biggest change I’d say would be this journey of self-love. What I realized was, I’m still worthy of love. My own love, God’s love,” he explained.
The interview also saw James detail the support that Kimberly and the couple’s six children — Olivia, 15, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, 9, Gwendolyn, 7, and Jeremiah, 4 — have provided in the wake of his diagnosis.
“I would not be alive were it not for my wife,” he said. “She [Kimberly] has just stepped up as a caretaker, as a nurse, as head of the household. And then the kids, as much as I want to shield them from them seeing me in any kind of pain … you realize that resilience is not only something they have and can build, but is the best thing for them.”
James revealed his diagnosis in an Instagram post that noted he had taken time to share the news with fans. “I’ve been dealing with this privately until now, getting treatment and dialing in my overall health with greater focus than ever before,” the actor wrote in the November 2024 post. “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. … Please know that my family and I deeply appreciate all the love and support.”
