Rebecca Gayheart outlined her current “confusing” and “complicated” dynamic with estranged husband Eric Dane as the actor battles ALS.
In an emotional essay for The Cut, published Monday, Gayheart said their “love may not be romantic, but it’s a familial love” — and admitted “s–t went crazy” when they were together.
The actress, 54, clarified that she and the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum, 53, “haven’t lived in the same home for eight years.”
The former couple — who wed in 2004 and share daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14 — now regularly see each other, Gayheart wrote.
“This year, the girls and I have spent a lot of time at Eric’s house, which is about a 12-minute drive away from our home,” she told readers. “We have a lot of meals together. We do a lot of drop-by visits — well, I don’t just drop by. I always call and say, ‘I’m coming up the hill’ or ‘I’m dropping Georgia off.’”
Her goal is to “take advantage of the time that [Dane] has right now” since “he made it very clear that he wants to spend time with his family as much as possible” during his health struggles.
Gayheart insisted she is “committed to facilitating that,” writing, “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.
“So whatever I can do or however I can show up to make this journey better for him or easier for him, I want to do that,” she continued. “And I want to model that for my girls: ‘That’s what you do. That’s the right thing to do.’”
Despite their family’s “unlucky” circumstances, Gayheart gushed that co-parenting the teens during this time has been a “really positive” experience.
“I think it’s nice for the kids to see maybe a softer side of us,” she wrote. “It’s not that they have the hopes of us being together … because they understand the reality of the situation. And hopefully, what they see instead are two adults who are trying to be mature and focus on what’s important.”
Last month, Gayheart similarly addressed her “super complicated” role in Dane’s life on “Broad Ideas,” telling listeners she was “show[ing] up” for her girls’ dad “with some dignity and some grace.”
Gayheart added that she was “on a break” from a two-year romance because dating was “impossible” since Billie and Georgia wouldn’t accept “anyone because of what’s going on with their father.”
Dane, for his part, has publicly dated actress Priya Jain since he and Gayheart called off their divorce in March.
The exes put a stop to legal proceedings one month before Dane went public with his ALS diagnosis.
