Rebecca Gayheart is supporting Eric Dane during his health struggles despite their separation.
Gayheart, 54, is teaching daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, that “we show up for people no matter what,” as Dane, 53, navigates his new normal with ALS.
“He is our family. He is your father,” Gayheart said during her Monday, November 17, appearance on the “Broad Ideas” podcast. “We show up, and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it.”
Gayheart admitted that it’s also a “super complicated” situation for her.
“We’ve been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100 percent of the time. There’s been lots of just stuff, other stuff,” she explained. “I try to stay optimistic, though, about it all. I’m trying to learn from it and [be a] role model for them [for] how to go through something like this, which is really hard.”
How Eric Dane’s Daughters Are Coping Amid His ALS Battle: ‘Get Through It’
Gayheart 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.”
Dane announced in April that he was diagnosed with ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter,” he shared in a statement at the time.
The actor later revealed in an interview after announcing his diagnosis that he discovered early signs of the illness after experiencing weakness in his right hand. He further noted that he only had “one functioning arm” as his condition progressed.
Gayheart said during Monday’s podcast episode that she tells her and Dane’s daughters that they will “get through it the best we can” as a family.
“They’re good girls who are just going through a lot,” Gayheart added.
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart’s Relationship Timeline
Dane and Gayheart got married in October 2004. She filed for divorce in February 2018 but requested a dismissal of her divorce petition earlier this year.
“Listen, I am definitely experiencing growth as a person, as a human being. It’s all very humbling,” Gayheart said during her “Broad Ideas” appearance. “I think 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.”
She added, “This is life. Life, sadly, is just moments good and bad, strung together. … You never know what you’re gonna get, and we should treat today as a really special day. This isn’t a dress rehearsal.”
Gayheart’s focus is on giving her daughters “the opportunity to spend time with” Dane, “so that they don’t ever look back and go, ‘I wish I would have spent some time with my dad.’”
She added, “I really want to make sure I can help facilitate that stuff for them, which is what I’m doing.”
According to Gayheart, she doesn’t know what her daughters’ “takeaway” will be from this situation.
“I know it’s super complicated right now, for so many reasons,” she explained. “I just hope that they can get through this and feel OK about it.”
