Back in April Gray's Anatomy And Euphoria star Eric Dane it turned out that he was ALS diagnosisor amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. It is also known as motor neurone disease and affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, causing patients to gradually lose the ability to walk, talk, eat and breathe independently, although their mental status remains unchanged.
Conversation with Diane Sawyer Good morning America Eric, 53, said in June that his symptoms started about a year and a half ago when he noticed weakness in his right arm. He added at the time: “My left side is functioning, my right side has completely stopped working… I feel like maybe a couple more months and I won't have my left arm either. It's sobering.”
Eric, who was a former professional swimmer and water polo star, also recalled a recent experience while on a boat with his youngest daughter. The star shares 15-year-old Billie Beatrice and 13-year-old Georgia Geraldine with his wife Rebecca Gayheart. He told Diana: “When I jumped into the ocean that day and realized I couldn’t swim [or] To muster up enough energy to get back into the boat, I thought, “Oh God.” And at that moment I realized: I’m no longer safe in the water.”
Eric then shared his anger at the thought of his daughters losing him at a “very young age” and said he wanted to prioritize spending as much time as possible with his family. Speaking specifically about Rebecca, whom he married in 2004, Eric said, “I talk to her every day. We've managed to become better friends and better parents. And she's probably my biggest advocate, my staunchest supporter, and I rely on her.”
And with that in mind, people were confused when Eric broke up with director Janelle Shirtcliffe just days after the interview. Eric and Janelle posed hand in hand on the red carpet at the premiere of his show. Countdownand the source said Entertainment tonight on the same day, the couple had been “in an on-off relationship” for over three years.
So here's the context: After getting married in 2004 and having two children, Rebecca filed for divorce from Eric in 2018, but the divorce proceedings never progressed. Then, in March of this year—just a month before Eric publicly announced his ALS diagnosis—Rebecca made a request reject her divorce innings. During an interview with Eh! shortly after, Rebecca confirmed that she and Eric were still married and “best friends.”
“We're very close. We're great parents. We've really figured out the formula of being a family, and I think our kids benefit a lot from it, and so do we,” she explained at the time. “I think it's important not to look at relationships that end in failure. It's just a season. It wasn't a failure. It was a huge success. We were married, I mean we're still married, but we've been together for 15 years and we had two beautiful kids, so I think it's a successful relationship and that's how we look at it.”
And now Rebecca has revealed some more about the “super complicated” relationship between her and Eric, sharing why she decided to call off the divorce – and how it all comes down to prioritizing her daughters. During a speech at Broad ideas podcast, Rebecca said: “I'm definitely trying to show [my daughters] that we come to people no matter what. And he is our family, he is your father. We come in and try to do it with some dignity and grace and just get through it, and we'll get through it the best we can. I mean, it's very difficult for me.”
“We were separated for eight years,” Rebecca then confirmed. “The kids live with me 100 percent of the time. There's been a lot of different things, other things, but I'm trying to stay positive about it all. I'm trying to learn from it and [be a] a role model for them [for] how to get through something like that, which is really hard.”
“I don’t know if I’m doing it well or wrong or right,” she admitted. “I just show up. I show up and try to be there for them. I guess time will tell… They're good girls that are just going through a lot.”
“It’s all very humiliating,” Rebecca added. “And I think one part of that that I hope to pass 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, and that's life. Unfortunately, life is just moments, good and bad, strung together. There will be good ones, there will be bad ones, there will be exciting ones, and it will be very sad.”
Rebecca concluded: “[My focus is giving them] opportunity to spend time with [their father] so that they never look back and say, “I wish I could have spent some time with my dad.”
This sounds absolutely wonderful to me – let me know what you think of Rebecca's comments below!
