“We Show Up for Family” – Rebecca Gayheart Reveals Why She Stopped Her Divorce From Eric Dane Shortly Before His ALS Diagnosis Went Public

Rebecca Gayheart is opening up about the highly emotional and complicated journey she has faced as she and her ex-husband Eric Dane announced they were pausing their divorce due to his aggressive ALS diagnosis. Although the two have been estranged since 2017, Gayheart, 46, announced that she had withdrawn her 2018 divorce filing, mere weeks before Dane, 48, went public with his condition, and was motivated to do so by a desire to show her children, Billie, 15, and Georgia, 13, what it means to truly support family in their darkest hour.

Gayheart told hosts of the Broad Ideas podcast that while the situation was “super complicated,” the bottom line for her in making the decision to withdraw the divorce was about her girls seeing “what it means to show up for family when times are at their worst.”

Although she and Dane had been apart for a number of years and their children have been with Gayheart full-time since the split, she has also not been afraid to be transparent with them about the future of their family. “From the get-go, we were really honest with the girls,” she said. “We tell them, ‘We show up for people no matter what. He is our family. He is your father.’” She further explained that, throughout the divorce process and even now in the wake of Dane’s diagnosis, she has been focused on her children’s well-being and helping them understand that even though “things are hard and sad and bad,” she wanted her girls to feel “taken care of.”

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease for which there is no cure, and Dane confirmed his diagnosis in April. He has since been candid about how the disease has begun to affect his body, from initially losing movement in his right arm to most recently feeling a similar weakening in his left. ALS causes a breakdown of the nerves and motor neurons that control muscles, and over time, this leads to patients losing function in their limbs, and later their speech, swallowing, and even the ability to breathe. Dane has since become more openly affected by the disease; while in recent months he had mostly been spotted in a wheelchair, he more recently appeared to be having more difficulty moving even within the chair, even as he made an appearance alongside doctors and I Am ALS officials to continue advocating for expanded treatment research and funding.

Gayheart, who has been in Dane’s corner throughout the process, said that while the family is learning to adapt to the changes, their children have also been making their own adjustments. “They are good girls who are just going through a lot. So we’re making them see therapists and stuff like that, so they can learn and understand,” Gayheart said. “We also just want to make memories for them and ourselves so that when they get older, they don’t regret not spending more time with their dad, or whatever it might be.”

Gayheart said that while her “head and heart have not really gotten in the way of” making decisions about how to handle the situation, she has still continued to internally reflect on the process and the future. “I find myself questioning every decision I make and every action and whether I am doing it the right way. But at the end of the day, I’m just showing up. I just show up for them, for Eric, for me. We are just kind of living our lives in the moment, and learning how to take care of each other and take care of ourselves.”

Gayheart, who has maintained her relationship with Dane as a co-parent to their daughters, also said that she hopes this experience is one where her children not only learn how to care for others in their darkest times, but how to care for themselves. “Life is just moments, good and bad, strung together,” she said. “You never know what you’re going to get, and we should treat today as a special day. This isn’t a dress rehearsal.”

Dane for his part has been equally grateful for the support of Gayheart in his time of need, calling her “my biggest champion,” and noting that they have been communicating more than ever and are “better co-parents than we have ever been.”

Dane, meanwhile, has since also been working with I Am ALS as an advocate for expanded treatment research and resources for ALS. Collaborating with the organization on their Push for Progress campaign, Dane is hoping to see more funding from the federal government in the coming years. His goal, along with I Am ALS, is to see $1 billion invested in treatment over the next three years so that therapies could reach more than 100,000 patients.