Ryan Reynolds has revealed that he had polyps removed after undergoing a "potentially life-saving" colonoscopy on camera.
In a new video from colon-cancer-awareness organization Lead from Behind in partnership with the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, the Deadpool star and actor Rob McElhenney showed their experience in getting preventive colonoscopies.
The 45-year-old actors announced that they made a bet that if the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia actor learned to speak Welsh, then Reynolds would let cameras film his procedure.
McElhenney then explained the bet in Welsh, with Reynolds adding: "Rob and I turned 45 this year which means getting to an age is getting a colonoscopy," adding, "It’s a simple step that could literally, and I mean literally, save your life."
Watch the video below:The video then showed the Free Guy actor arriving for his procedure and the doctor explaining that the "stunningly effective" test that only takes about 30 minutes.
Following his colonoscopy, the medical examiner then told Reynolds that they'd found an "extremely subtle polyp" on the right side of his colon.
"This was potentially life-saving for you - I'm not kidding, I'm not being overly dramatic," the doctor told the actor. "This is exactly why you do this. You had no symptoms."
The video clip then went on to display images of the actual scan of the polyp, to which the doctor explained how he removed it.
He said: "You are interrupting the natural history of a disease of something of a process that could have ended up developing into cancer and causing all sorts of problems."
Despite the bet, both actors - who are also chairmen of Wrexham FC - made, the video also showed footage from McElhenney's turn - who quipped that he would compete with Reynolds.
"I figure I can't go wrong in terms of comparing myself to Ryan," the Game of Thrones actor joked. "They either find nothing and that means my colon was cleaner than his, or they find a polyp and it's either bigger than his, which is awesome, or it's smaller than his, which means I had less of an opportunity to have cancer - either way, I win."
After the procedure, the doctor told McElhenney that he had "only good news" before revealing to the actor that he had three polyps that "were not a big deal, but certainly a good thing that we found them early and removed them".
The video concluded with a message shared by doctors, writing that colon cancer is "a 100% preventable disease" if people are tested regularly.
Medical examiners also urge people to ask their doctors about colonoscopies to help "Rob and Ryan kick colon cancer's a**".
