Rebecca Gayheart Opens Up About Eric Dane's Final Days and Their Daughters

Rebecca Gayheart is speaking publicly about losing Eric Dane, and her Today show interview with Maria Shriver is as candid as it gets. Dane died in February at 53, less than a year after revealing his ALS diagnosis in spring 2025. Gayheart admitted the family never anticipated the loss coming when it did:“I thought Eric would still be here with us right now.”

The couple married in 2004 and separated for more than eight years without ever finalizing their divorce. When she learned of his 2024 diagnosis, Gayheart said her focus went straight to their daughters, Billie, 16, and Georgia, 14, and what losing their father would mean for them. She stood by Dane through his illness, and he honored her in his posthumous memoir, My Book of Days, which is out now.

Through tears, Gayheart said the hardest truth is simple:“I can’t give my daughters their dad back. It’s a great, tremendous loss for them.”But she also noted the girls got all the best parts of him. It’s a raw look at grief, loyalty, and what family means when the labels get complicated. Have you ever stood by someone through something like this? We want to hear your story.