Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart’s Complicated Love Story: Support, Separation, and Family Resilience

Eric Dane, best known for his work on Grey’s Anatomy and Euphoria, has died. Dane made his battle with ALS public less than a year ago, just a month after he and his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart, dismissed their divorce filing. Throughout the battle, his relationship with Gayheart has been of quiet interest to the public. They’ve both spoken of their life together several times over the years. Let’s take a look back at their very complicated love story.

How did Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart meet?

Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart met in 2003. While the former flames never revealed exactly where they met, Dane did share insight about the beginning of the romance during an interview for Flaunt Magazine. He told the outlet,  “It’s probably one of the least interesting stories in the world. It went basically like this: ‘You wanna go out?’ ‘Yeah, sure.’ Ten months later, we were married.”

The duo married in October 2004 and maintained a pretty private life, though they made headlines from time to time. In 2009, they were embroiled in a controversy when an intimate video featuring them and another woman was made public. The following year, they welcomed their first child together. In 2011, amid Dane’s battle with prescription drug addiction, their second child was born.

Dane was always pretty transparent about his battles, insisting he deeply regretted getting Rebecca “wrapped up” in his public struggles. They filed for divorce in 2018, though they maintained a cordial relationship, even before the actor’s ALS diagnosis. The pair vacationed as a family, with their children, in 2022, for example.

The pair filed for divorce, then withdrew the request

While Gayheart and Dane spent decades together as a couple and remained married until his death on February 20, their relationship was complicated. The pair actually announced their split back in 2018. Gayheart said she had dated someone during that time, and that Dane had romances, too. Their divorce petition, filed in 2018, citing irreconcilable differences, was never finalized.

In March 2025, the pair withdrew the petition. It was unclear exactly why at the time, but a month later, Dane revealed that he had been diagnosed with ALS. While he remained hopeful that it wasn’t the end of his story, it was clear that the decision to withdraw the divorce was directly linked to the diagnosis. Gayheart and Dane maintained separate lives and homes, but did reconnect on some level. As the disease progressed, Gayheart stepped in as a caregiver for Dane. Romance wasn’t in the cards, but love was.

The actor has discussed her decision and her love life in recent months

Throughout the couple’s complicated journey navigating ALS, Rebecca Gayheart has been incredibly transparent. In an essay for The Cut, Gayheart explained that while she and Dane didn’t have a romance at the end of his life, there was still love there. She went on to insist that they canceled the divorce to better facilitate Dane’s care and to ensure he had what he wanted and needed as his disease progressed.

While the setup worked for Dane and Gayheart, she admitted she knew that it confused people on the outside. The dynamic might have seemed strange, but the actor insisted it was a teachable moment. She revealed that one of her goals, aside from giving Dane grace and dignity as his disease progressed, was to teach her daughters that you show up for people you love no matter what. The arrangement, as confusing as it might have been to people not directly linked to the pair, did just that. It also ensured that Dane could spend as much time as possible with his children and that he was cared for.