United Kingdom, March 21 -- James Van Der Beek says 'The Masked Singer' was "a great escape" from his cancer diagnosis.

The 48-year-old star revealed last year he had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and earlier this week he was unmasked as Griffin on the Fox singing competition.

James has now admitted he "felt pretty good" while filming the show, and he enjoyed not having "cancer be a part of it all" while he was wearing a mask and singing to the audience.

He told PEOPLE: "I felt pretty good.

"There were some things we had to look out for, and I told my dressers.

"But what was cool is, the audience didn't know. So as much as I was dealing with whatever I was dealing with in my trailer and with the world, it was this great esca...