United Kingdom, July 31 -- James Van Der Beek was "as honest as possible" with his children about his cancer diagnosis because he didn't want to "confuse" them.

The former Dawson's Creek star - who has Olivia, 14, Joshua, 13, Annabel, 11, Emilia, nine, Gwendolyn, six, and Jeremiah, two, with wife Kimberly - was diagnosed with stage 3 colo-rectal cancer last year and didn't want to hide the news from his broos because "they know" when he's not doing well.

Speaking on Today, he said: "I'm far from an expert, but our approach was just to be as honest as possible, as honest to the degree of their understanding, right? Because they know.

"They can sense that Dad's having a tough day.

"They know if Dad's in pain. They know, and so by not te...