Rebecca Gayheart is opening up about her “super complicated” family dynamic with ex Eric Dane and their daughters in the wake of Dane’s ALS diagnosis.
The former couple tied the knot in 2004 and share two daughters: Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13. Gayheart, 54, filed for divorce from Dane, 53, in 2018, but then dismissed her filing in March 2025 less than a month before the former “Grey’s Anatomy” star publicly announced his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.
Gayheart explained during a Nov. 17 appearance on the “Broad Ideas” podcast how she's made it a point to “show up” for Dane and support him despite their marriage ending.
“We’ve been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100% of the time. There’s been lots of just stuff, other stuff,” the model and actor told hosts Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen.
Gayheart said it was important for her to serve as a “role model” to Billie and Georgia.
“I am definitely trying to show them that we show up for people, no matter what. He is our family. He is your father,” she said. “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.”
Gayheart said she is trying to “stay optimistic” for herself and her loved ones.
“I don’t know if I’m doing it well or doing it in the wrong way or the right way. I’m just showing up... and trying to be there for them. I guess time will tell,” she said.
She added that her daughters are “good girls” who are “going through a lot.”
Gayheart said the family’s challenges have been filled with life lessons. “Listen, I am definitely experiencing growth as a person, as a human being. It’s all very humbling,” she said.
“This is life. Life, sadly, is just moments good and bad, strung together,” she added, also stressing the importance of taking care of oneself.
ALS is a progressive nervous system disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord and causes loss of muscle control, according to the Mayo Clinic.
The disease, which is fatal and has no cure, gradually affects control of the muscles needed to move, speak, eat and breathe.
The day before Dane publicly announced his diagnosis in April, Gayheart spoke to E! News about the pair's special bond.
“We are best of friends. We are really close. We are great co-parents,” she said. “We really figured out the formula to staying a family and I think our kids are benefiting greatly from it and we are as well.”
The friendly exes have made headlines in the past for taking family vacations together with their daughters since their split.
“My ex Eric and I, we are friends and we are doing our best to co-parent and maintain a family, even though we’re not married. Legally we’re still married, but separated,” Gayheart told People in July 2019. “And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it. Life is just good. There are so many exciting things happening.”
