Rebecca Gayheart Poignantly Explains Why She Called Off Divorce From Eric Dane After His ALS Diagnosis

Model and Jawbreaker actor Rebecca Gayheart recently set the record straight about her relationship with Grey's Anatomy alum Eric Dane.

Gayheart, 54, and Dane, 52, married in 2004 and share two teenage daughters. In 2018, Gayheart filed for divorce, but dismissed her filing in March 2025. Less than a month later, Dane publicly announced his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.

Gayheart opened up on a podcast recently about how the diagnosis made them reconsider their long separation and potential divorce.

As Gayheart tells it, it's for the sake of their daughters.

“I am definitely trying to show [my daughters] that we show up for people no matter what. And he is our family, he is your father."

"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."

"I mean, it's super complicated for me.”

- YouTubeyoutu.be

In his announcement earlier this year about his condition, Dane said he first noticed an issue with his right hand, then entire right side of his body. He recounted a terrifying ordeal while boating where he was unable to coordinate his muscles to swim properly to get back to the boat.

He and Gayheart's two daughters have lived with their mother since she filed for divorce, but they are back together as a family for the duration of Dane's illness.

Gayheart explained:

“[My focus is giving them] the opportunity to spend time with [their father] so that they don’t ever look back and go: 'I wish I would have spent some time with my dad.’”

She also said that this is a very hard learning moment for her daughters.

"Life, sadly, is just moments, good and bad, strung together. There's gonna be good ones, there's gonna be bad ones, there's gonna be exciting ones, it's gonna be really sad."

People appreciated her and her family's strength.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—sometimes known as Lou Gehrig's disease after the famous baseball player who battled it in the public eye—is a progressively degenerative neuromuscular disease that slowly paralyzes sufferers while leaving their cognitive abilities intact. There is currently no cure, and it is widely regarded as a catastrophic diagnosis to receive.

Commenters were shocked at how fast and hard ALS can bring someone down.

The ALS Association is committed to finding treatment for the deadly disease.