Colin Egglesfield Recalls Secretly Feeling 'Weak and Sweaty' from Cancer Treatment on the Set of All My Children

• Colin Egglesfield shared that he originally hid his testicular cancer from his All My Children colleagues — until he "broke down" on set
• The Melrose Place alum shared that when he was "weak and sweaty" from radiation treatment, he worried people would assume it was a hangover from "partying"
• The three-time cancer survivor advocated for early detection, crediting it with catching his prostate cancer

Three-time cancer survivor Colin Egglesfield says he was worried his coworkers on All My Children would mistake his being “weak and sweaty” from his radiation treatment for a hangover — because he hadn’t told them yet that he was sick.

Six months into his role on All My Children in 2006, the actor, then 32, was diagnosed with testicular cancer. Now 52, Egglesfield shared on the Friday, March 28 episode of The Melrose Minute. “I've always tried to work out and eat healthy,” he said, adding that at first, “it's kinda like that denial. But I had to have surgery and radiation treatments.” 

As he previously explained, the actor would schedule his treatment around his All My Children shooting schedule — eventually getting radiation in the morning before arriving on set.

“I hid this from everyone in my cast because at the time, it's guy stuff. It's testicular,” he said. “I mean, I don't want the public to know about this stuff. And, after a few weeks of, of showing up on set, having the radiation treatment, I was just feeling weak and and sweaty and not great.”

“I didn't want my producers and the director to think I'd gone out and was partying all night,” the Melrose Place alum said, explaining that’s when his director confronted him about his appearance. “He said, 'You don't look so good,’ and honestly, from trying to hold it all in, I just broke down.”

“I told him I was going through this cancer experience and had radiation treatment, and he was like, ‘You idiot. Why didn't you tell us? Like, why would you hold something like this in?’ “

That’s why Egglesfield says he talks about his three struggles with cancer “because I know how lonely it can be, and how scary it can be to go through this experience on your own.”

As he shared, the cancer came back a year later and he had to have another surgery; Earlier this year, Egglesfield said he underwent treatment for prostate cancer. Doctors caught it because he goes for annual checkups and gets a PSA test, which checks prostate-specific antigens in the blood that can indicate cancer. "I'm just so grateful that I'm here to be able to to talk about this and just share this experience," he said.

“This is why I would say anyone out there, if you haven't seen your doctor in a while, get it checked out. Guys, prostate, PSAs, it's an easy blood test," Egglesfield said. "Women, obviously, it's breast cancer, so early detection can really help." 

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