Rebecca Gayheart is openly discussing her support for Eric Dane amid his recent ALS diagnosis, despite the couple’s eight-year separation. The actress shared details about navigating the challenging family situation during a recent podcast appearance.
Gayheart, 54, and Dane, 53, share two daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13. She emphasized teaching her children that “we are there for people no matter what,” as Dane adjusts to his new reality with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis.
“He is our family. He is your father,” Gayheart stated on the “Broad Ideas” podcast this past Monday. “We are present, and we try to do it with dignity and with some grace, and just get through it.”
Gayheart admitted the situation is “super complicated” for her as well.
“We’ve been separated for eight years. The girls live with me one hundred percent of the time,” she explained. “I’m trying to stay optimistic about all of this. I’m trying to learn from the experience and be a model for them of how to deal with something like this, which is really difficult.”
She added that she is simply “present” for her daughters, stating, “I guess time will tell” if she is handling it correctly.
Dane announced his ALS diagnosis this past April. In a statement at the time, he shared, “I am grateful to have my dear family by my side as we go through this new chapter.”
The actor later revealed that he first detected symptoms when experiencing weakness in his right hand. He noted that he had only “one functional arm” as his condition progressed.
Gayheart reiterated that she tells her daughters they will “get through it the best way possible” as a family. She added that they are “good girls who are just going through a lot.”
Dane and Gayheart married in October 2004. She filed for divorce in February 2018 but sought to dismiss her divorce petition earlier this year.
“I am definitely experiencing growth as a person, as a human being. All of this is very sobering,” Gayheart said on the podcast. She hopes to instill in her daughters the idea that “you can be there for someone and go through it with them, but you also have to be there for yourself.”
Gayheart stressed the importance of appreciating the present. “Life, unfortunately, is just good and bad moments, linked,” she noted. “You never know what you’re going to get, and we should treat today as a really special day. This is not a dress rehearsal.”
She is focused on ensuring her daughters have “the opportunity to spend time with” Dane. This is to prevent them from looking back and regretting not having spent time with their father.
“I really want to make sure I can help them take advantage of those opportunities, which is what I am doing,” Gayheart affirmed.
She acknowledged that the “lesson” her daughters will take from the experience remains unclear. “I know right now it’s super complicated, for many reasons,” Gayheart concluded, expressing hope that they “get through it and feel good about it.”