Who is Eric Dane’s Wife? What To Know About Rebecca Gayheart

Before his death at the age of 53, Eric Dane spent his final days with his wife Rebecca Gayheart and their two daughters, Billie and Georgia.

The actor announced that he had been diagnosed with ALS, a progressive nervous system disease that “affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord,” per the Mayo Clinic, last year.

Dane and his wife’s relationship shifted from romance to friendship in the final years of his life. Gayheart filed for divorce from Dane in 2018, but dismissed her petition in March 2025, just a month before Dane announced on April 10 that he had been diagnosed with ALS.

“We are best friends. We are really close. We are great co-parents,” Gayheart told E! News the day before Dane shared news of his diagnosis.

Although Dane and Gayheart were no longer a romantic couple at the time of his death, they remained close.

“We really figured out the formula to staying a family and I think our kids are benefiting greatly from it and we are as well,” Gayheart said.

In a Netflix special titled “Famous Last Words: Eric Dane,” Dane spoke about the status of his relationship with Gayheart.

“Their mother and I are no longer together. We’re still best friends but we’re not together,” he said.

Read on to learn more about Gayheart.

Gayheart and Dane Wed in 2004 and and Split in 2018

Gayheart and Dane met in 2003. Like Dane, Gayheart is an actor. She got her big break on the daytime drama “Loving” in 1992 and later played Luke Perry’s girlfriend (and eventual bride) on “Beverly Hills, 90210.” She also appeared on the TV shows “Nip/Tuck” and “Vanished,” and movies like “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Scream 2,” “Jawbreaker” and “Harvard Man.”

In his “Famous Last Words” Netflix special, Dane described how he was enchanted by his future wife when he first met her.

“I met Rebecca and I turned to her friend and I said, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,’” he recalled.

Gayheart was engaged to another man at that point, but she later started dating Dane. The couple tied the knot in October 2004.

Gayheart filed for divorce in February 2018 after nearly 14 years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences, E! News reported at the time.

“We will continue our friendship and work as a team to co-parent our two beautiful girls as they are the most important thing in the world to us,” the pair said in a statement at the time. “We kindly ask that you respect our privacy during this time as we navigate the next phase of our lives.”

Gayheart dismissed her petition for divorce in March 2025, a month before Dane announced his ALS diagnosis.

Gayheart and Dane Have Spoken Openly About Their Separation

In December 2025, Gayheart penned an essay for The Cut and offered insight into how her family was doing amid Dane’s diagnosis with ALS. She also offered insight into their decision to separate.

“We had a really lovely marriage for a long time — we were married for 15 years — we created two beautiful girls. But also, lots of s— went crazy in our relationship, and it wasn’t good. We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn’t,” she said.

Gayheart revealed that the couple hadn’t lived in the same house for eight years and noted that they both had dated other people in that time.

“It’s a very complicated relationship, one that’s confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love. Eric knows that I am always going to want the best for him. That I’m going to do my best to do right by him. And I know he would do the same for me,” she wrote.

In his “Famous Last Words” Netflix special, Dane said he and Gayheart still loved each other “deeply.”

“I just think we don’t want to live with each other. But there’s a lot of love there. I will never, by the time anybody sees this, have fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca. She is the mother of my children,” he said.

When asked why the marriage didn’t work out, Dane offered the following response.

“I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was,” he said.

Dane then elaborated on his statement, saying, “I don’t have that gene that just makes you want to keep going regardless of what’s happening. I’m like, ‘If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to patch the hole. Scuttle the damn thing and go find a new one.”

They Share Two Daughters

Gayheart and Dane are parents to two daughters: Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.

Despite going their separate ways in 2018, Gayheart and Dane co-parented their kids together.

“My ex Eric and I, we are friends and we are doing our best to co-parent and maintain a family, even though we’re not married. Legally we’re still married, but separated,” Gayheart told People in July 2019. “And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of it. Life is just good. There are so many exciting things happening.”

Gayheart, Dane and their daughters vacationed together in August 2022.

“This is us, family vacay 2022,” Gayheart captioned an Instagram photo of her family in Paris.

The exes lived 12 minutes away from each other and spent a lot of time together as a family with their two daughters after their separation.

“He made it very clear that he wants to spend time with his family as much as possible, and I am committed to facilitating that,” Gayheart told The Cut.

During his “Famous Last Words” special on Netflix, Dane said he remained a constant presence in his daughters’ lives after he and his wife separated.

He said he worried whether he was spending enough time with his girls.

“Just by virtue of the distance and us living in separate homes there was a lot of time lost there. But I made sure that I could be there as much as possible and certainly when it counts,” he said.

Gayheart Supported Dane During His ALS Battle

In her essay for The Cut, Gayheart detailed the toll Dane’s illness had taken on him and his family and outlined the role she played in supporting him throughout the challenging time.

“Eric has 24/7 nurses now. Just figuring out the health-care system is its own thing — the health-insurance company will deny you what you’re asking for and you have to appeal and then you have to apply again. With the nurses, the woman from his insurance said to me, ‘You can keep applying, and I’ll keep denying,’ I was like, Oh? F that. I made it my mission. I was ‘locked in,’ as the kids would say. I crashed out, and then I locked it in. And we got it approved after two appeals,” she wrote.

Gayheart Has Called Her Marriage to Dane a ‘Huge Success’

Gayheart has repeatedly expressed pride in the close friendship she and Dane maintained after their their romantic relationship ended.

Gayheart also said that both she and Dane considered their marriage to have been a “success.”

“It’s just a season. It wasn’t a failure. It was a huge success,” Gayheart told E! News. “We were married for, I mean, we are still married, but together for 15 years, and we had two beautiful kids so I think that’s a successful relationship, and that’s how we look at it.”