Rebecca Gayheart Details ‘Super Complicated’ Relationship With Estranged Husband Eric Dane Amid ALS Battle

Rebecca Gayheart says things aren’t black and white within her family dynamic. She recently opened up about how things are going with her estranged husband, Eric Dane, and how his ALS diagnosis has impacted their teenage daughters. 

“I am trying to show them that we show up for people no matter what,” she explained in a recent episode of the Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen podcast. She says they are focused on being a united front.

“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. We will get through it the best we can,” she continued. Her interview comes seven months after he made his diagnosis public.

ALS, or Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, is a progressive nervous system disease that attacks nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, leading to muscle weakness and loss of function. Symptoms include muscle twitching, cramps, and weakness in the limbs, as well as trouble with speech, chewing, and swallowing. There is currently no cure.

“It’s super complicated for me,” she continued. “We’ve been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100 percent of the time. There’s been a lot of other stuff. I’m trying to stay optimistic, though, about it all.”

The Beverly Hills, 90210 alum, who filed to dismiss her 2018 divorce from Dane this March, says her goal is to be an example of what it looks like to love in spite of challenges. She initially filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.

“I don’t know if I’m doing it well or if I’m doing it in the wrong way or the right way,” she admitted. “I’m just showing up. I’m showing up and I’m trying to be there for them. I guess time will tell.”

She says the girls are doing their best to handle the diagnosis while things play out publicly. “They are good girls who are just going through a lot,” Gayheart shared. “They’re having such complex feelings about it all because it’s public. It confuses them.”

She says she has to also grapple with her own feelings about things.  “I am definitely experiencing growth as a person, as a human being,” she said.  “It’s all very humbling. I think one piece of this that I hope I’m passing on 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.”