Eric Dane and Rebecca Gayheart never finalised their divorce despite ending their 14-year marriage in 2018.
The late actor details his enduring relationship with Gayheart in his posthumous memoir, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, which hit shelves on Tuesday, November 3 — nine months after Dane’s death from ALS.
“We leave our marriage, but we don’t leave our family,” Dane writes. “Rebecca and I are not a couple anymore. Well, except sometimes, when we can’t help ourselves. Usually, almost always, we’re not a couple. But we are, always, a family,” he added.
READ MORE: Rebecca Gayheart opens up about ‘showing up’ for ex Eric Dane amid ALS
When Dane, who was 53 years old at the time of his death, first crossed paths with Gayheart, 55, at a party in 1999, he told his friend, “I’m gonna marry that girl.” But the friend informed him that they were currently at a party for Gayheart’s then-fiancé.
Four years later, Dane ran into Gayheart again and noticed there was “no ring” on her finger. The pair then sparked a “whirlwind romance,” got engaged a year later in October 2004, and welcomed daughters Billie and Georgie in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
The Grey’s Anatomy star writes that the pair’s “marriage collapses” around 2018 due to his long work hours and “complications” from his addiction battle. When Gayheart initiated the divorce, Dane told a mediator to give Gayheart “whatever she needs.”
READ MORE: Eric Dane addresses daughters in ‘last words’ before death
Gayheart got full custody of their children and the pair moved into “separate homes.” Notably, they never filed the divorce papers and remained close.
The Euphoria actor was diagnosed with ALS in 2024, and the first person he called was Gayheart.
“I don’t remember a single word I said after that,” he writes. “I remember only feeling a violent impact, like getting the wind knocked out of me, and Rebecca wailing on the other end of the phone, and then I really lose it… I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere.”
According to Dane, Gayheart went above and beyond, dropping by everyday and being his “rock.”
“She’s the person I call, the one I go to when I need to talk, when I need to scream, when I need to cry,” he writes, telling Gayheart in the book’s acknowledgements, “I can’t thank you enough.”
READ MORE: Eric Dane declares his love for Rebecca Gayheart in final interview before his death
