Rebecca Gayheart is opening up about the convoluted dynamics at play while she and her two daughters support her estranged husband Eric Dane amid his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.
During a Monday appearance on the Broad Ideas podcast, Gayheart told hosts Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen that she’s been telling daughters, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, that “we show up for people no matter what” as their dad’s ALS rapidly progresses.
“He is our family. He is your father,” Gayheart recalled telling her daughters. “We show up, and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it.”
Chris Weeks/WireImage
Rebecca Gayheart and Eric Dane in 2004
Still, Gayheart admitted that it’s a “super complicated” situation for her since she and Dane have been separated since 2017. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018, citing irreconcilable differences, but requested to dismiss her prior divorce filing in March of this year.
“The kids live with me 100 percent of the time. And 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.”
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.”
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The 53-year-old actor revealed his ALS diagnosis in April, and the disease has visibly affected the star’s ability to move freely since. In June, Dane told Diane Sawyer that he has lost function in his right arm while his left one has been getting weaker. “I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won’t have my left hand either,” Dane said. “It’s sobering.”
In September, a noticeably less mobile Dane joined doctors and representatives from the I Am ALS organization for a discussion with California Congressman Eric Swalwell about investing in innovative treatments to ensure access to quality care for those diagnosed with ALS, as well as their families and researchers.
Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Billie Beatrice Dane, Eric Dane, and Georgia Geraldine Dane on May 30, 2024
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. The 54-year-old actress previously revealed that the couple’s daughters are seeing “professional therapists” to help navigate the emotional difficulties as Dane’s ALS progresses.
As for herself, Gayheart told the podcast’s hosts that she’s “definitely experiencing growth as a person, as a human being. It’s all very humbling.”
She added, “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. 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 emphasized that her focus remains 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 continued, “I really want to make sure I can help facilitate that stuff for them, which is what I’m doing. I know it’s super complicated right now, for so many reasons. I just hope that they can get through this and feel OK about it.”
Rebecca Gayheart/Instagram
Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart with their daughters Billie and Georgia
Since Dane disclosed his diagnosis in April, the actor has been the face of a public campaign to find federal funding for research on the incurable neurological disease.
The Euphoria star is partnering with the organization I Am ALS for Push for Progress, a fundraising initiative that hopes to raise $1 billion for ALS research in three years to help give “promising treatments to thousands of patients like me, and finally, finally, push towards ending this disease,” Dane said in a video on social media calling for further ALS research. “There’s so much more to learn, more to do, and we have to do it now.”
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