Eric Dane is relying on his estranged spouse Rebecca Gayheart’s support as he battles ALS.
During her look on Monday’s episode of the “Broad Ideas” podcast, Gayheart, 54, opened up about how she and her daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, are navigating the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum’s critical health battle.
“I’m definitely trying to show them that we show up for people no matter what,” Gayheart said about her youngsters.
Rebecca Gayheart on the “Broad Ideas” podcast. Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson & Olivia Allen/Youtube
Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane attend Disney Live! Mickey’s Music Festival in NYC in 2013. Michael Loccisano
“He is our family. He is your father,” she continued. “We show up, and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it and that we will get through it the best we can.”
The former teen model — who filed for divorce from Dane in 2018, but then filed to dismiss their divorce in March of this yr — revealed that she has a “super complicated” dynamic with her husband proper now.
Eric Dane with Rebecca Gayheart and their daughter Georgia Dean step out in West Hollywood on October 30. ALEXJR / BACKGRID
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart attend the forty third AFI Life Achievement Award Gala in June 2015. Getty Images for AFI
Eric Dane announced his ALS diagnosis in April 2025. iamalsorg/Instagram
“We’ve been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100 percent of the time,” she revealed. “There’s been lots of just stuff, other stuff.”
“I try to stay optimistic, though, about it all,” Gayheart went on. “I’m trying to learn from it and role model for how to go through something like this, which is really hard.”
The mom of two added, “I don’t know if I’m doing it well or if I’m doing it in the wrong way or the right way. I’m just showing up. I’m showing up, and I’m trying to be there for them. I guess time will tell.”
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart with their daughters at the sixteenth Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball in June 2017. WireImage
Gayheart also said that her daughters are “good girls who are just going through a lot.”
Dane, who married Gayheart in 2004, announced he was identified with ALS in April.
ALS is a uncommon degenerative illness that impacts nerve cells in the mind and spinal twine along with inflicting progressive loss of muscle control. The illness has long been nicknamed Lou Gehrig’s illness after the iconic baseball participant who had the situation in the Nineteen Thirties.
Eric Dane seen in a wheelchair in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29. BACKGRID
Eric Dane seen arriving at LAX Airport in a wheelchair on November 5. BACKGRID
Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane in 2004. WireImage for Maxim
In June, Dane, who now makes use of a wheelchair, gushed over his spouse’s support during an emotional interview on “Good Morning America.”
“I talk to her every day,” the “Euphoria” star said. “We have managed to become better friends and better parents, and she is probably my biggest champion. My most stalwart supporter, and I lean on her.”
On the “Broad Ideas” podcast, Gayheart shared that she’s “definitely experiencing growth as a human being” amidst Dane’s health battle.
Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane out at a sushi restaurant in West Hollywood. ALEXJR / BACKGRID
Rebecca Gayheart seen in Los Angeles on October 28. Michael Simon
“It’s all very humbling,” she said. “One piece of this that I hope I’m passing to my kids is the idea that you can show up for someone and be there for them, but you also have to show up for yourself. This is life. Life sadly is just moments of good and bad strung together.”
“You never know what you’re going to get and we should treat today as a really special day,” Gayheart continued. “This isn’t a dress rehearsal. This is it. Whatever we’re doing today, this is our life.”
