Eric Dane Recalls Estranged Wife Rebecca Gayheart’s 10-Word Response to His ALS Diagnosis in Posthumous Memoir
Eric Dane Recalls Estranged Wife Rebecca Gayheart’s 10-Word Response to His ALS Diagnosis in Posthumous Memoir
Juliana UkiomogbeWed, October 21, 2026 at 7:43 PM UTC
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Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesThe Gist -
Eric Dane wrote about his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart’s reaction to his ALS diagnosis in his posthumous memoir.
“I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere,’” he recalled.
Dane and Gayheart wed in 2004 and shared two daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14.
In Eric Dane’s forthcoming posthumous memoir My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, out on November 3, the late actor wrote about how his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart reacted to his ALS diagnosis.
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart in 2017.Credit: Getty Images
After receiving the diagnosis, Dane wrote, “I say to Rebecca on the phone, ‘It’s what we feared,’” per an excerpt published by People.
“I don’t remember a single word I said after that,” the Euphoria actor continued, before sharing her 10-word response, “I remember only feeling a violent impact, like getting the wind knocked out of me, and Rebecca wailing on the other end of the phone, and then I really lose it, and my sobs make my body shudder, and I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere.’”
Dane, who died on February 19 following his battle with ALS, and Gayheart got married in 2004 and shared two daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14.
Rebecca Gayheart, Eric Dane, Georgia Dane, and Billie Dane at the 16th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball on June 3, 2017.Credit: Getty Images
Elsewhere in the excerpt, the Grey’s Anatomy actor reflected on his relationship with Gayheart.
“We were married for 14 years, grew apart, filed for divorce, but never got around to signing the papers,” he wrote. “We’ve since stayed close, co-parenting, going on vacations as a family, spending time together and now we talk every day.”
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Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018, and they began to live separately. About their separation, Dane wrote, “We leave our marriage, but we don’t leave our family. Rebecca and I are not a couple anymore. Usually, almost always, we’re not a couple. But we are, always, a family.”
In a December 2025 essay for The Cut, Gayheart shared additional details about their “very complicated relationship.”
“We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn’t,” she wrote. “We haven’t lived in the same home for eight years; he’s dated other people, I’ve dated someone. It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people.”
She also shared that she hoped to model a good example for her daughters by caring for Dane while he lived with his illness.
Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane in 2017.Credit: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
“Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love. Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him,” she wrote. “That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me. So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that. And I want to model that for my girls: That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.”
on InStyle
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
