Terry Crews is advocating for colon cancer awareness and prevention.
The “America’s Got Talent” host teamed up with Lead From Behind in collaboration with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance to create a promotional video released Tuesday in which he took on his former role as “Idiocracy” character President Camacho and underwent a colonoscopy – which showed polyps that could one day become cancerous.
“Happy to put my butt on the line for @leadfrombehind if it means saving many more,” he wrote on Instagram. “Do the right thing and get your (peach emoji) checked.”
A colonoscopy is an exam that is used to look for any changes in the large intestine, or colon, and rectum. Those changes might include swollen tissue, polyps or warning signs of cancer, according to the Mayo Clinic.
A colon polyp is a “small clump of cells that forms on the lining of the colon,” according to the Mayo Clinic. They can be harmless, but some can develop into colon cancer.
In the video, Crews is shown in his President Camacho-appropriate patriotic attire speaking with a doctor ahead of his colonoscopy and then recapping after his procedure, which took about a half hour.
“This is how you gotta do it every time in a quick and painless 30 minutes. President Camacho was able to save himself before it was too late,” he said.
Crews isn’t the only celebrity to team up with the organization in hopes of advocating for people to get colonoscopies. Ryan Reynolds’ creative agency Maximum Effort paired with Crews’ Super Serious creative company to work on the video for Lead From Behind, according to People.
Last year, Reynolds was in another video for Lead From Behind with Rob McElhenney. Reynolds announced that doctors discovered a polyp during a colonoscopy he had after losing a bet.
After Reynolds lost a bet with McElhenney that the latter wouldn’t learn to speak Welsh, the pair chronicled both of their colonoscopies, filming themselves before and after their procedures.
After Reynolds’ colonoscopy, his doctor, Jonathan LaPook, shared that he found a polyp, a discovery that was “potentially lifesaving.”
McElhenney also had three polyps that were discovered and removed.
What to know about the procedure:Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney got colonoscopies after a bet.
During a colonoscopy, a tube is inserted into a person’s rectum, and a video camera on the tube allows a doctor to examine the colon. Sometimes, polyps or other tissue can be removed during the procedure, and biopsies can also be taken, if necessary.
Contributing: Marina Pitofsky
