Eric Dane’s Wife Rebecca Gayheart Breaks Her Silence Following His Death

Rebecca Gayheart, 54, is feeling the love from fans following the death of her estranged husband Eric Dane.

Dane died on Thursday at just 53 following a battle with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).

On Sunday, Gayheart shared the message, “I am so blown away by the outpouring of love and support from our community. There aren't words to express our gratitude.”

She added, “You are truly holding us up during this difficult time.”

Rebecca included a photo of a table covered in framed photos of her and Eric and their girls Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.

The message followed the launch of a GoFundMe to help support their "girls and their future needs.” The fund has reached nearly $350,000.

Rebecca had opened up about her complicated relationship with Eric back in December for New York magazine’s The Cut.

The stars wed in 2004 but broke up about eight years ago. Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018, but they called off their divorce after he was diagnosed. 

She wrote in her essay, “I care about him deeply. 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 sh*t went crazy in our relationship, and it wasn't good.”

“We separated, but we never got a divorce," she explained. “We were about to and then didn't. We haven't lived in the same home for eight years; he's dated other people, I've dated someone.”

The actress insisted, “It's a very complicated relationship, one that's confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it's 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.”

In November, on the "Broad Ideas with Rachel Bilson and Olivia Allen” podcast, Rebecca talked about setting a good example for their daughters.

“I am trying to show them that we show up for people no matter what,” she said. “He is our family. He is your father. We show up, and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it. We will get through it the best we can.”

Eric also spoke about his relationship with Rebecca in his final interview, which dropped on Friday.

The 53-year-old sat down with Brad Falchuk for Netflix’s “Famous Last Words” posthumous interview series in the months before he died. 

Eric shared, “We still love each other deeply. I just think we just don’t want to live with each other. But there is a lot of love there. I will have 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.”

While discussing why their marriage didn’t work out, Eric said, “I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was.”

Brad asked, "How come? How come you weren’t?” 

Eric said, "I don’t have that gene that just makes you want to keep going regardless of what happened. I’m like, if there is a hole in the boat don’t try to patch the hole, scuttle the damn thing and find a new one.”

He later added, “I’ve always been envious of people who fight and persevere. Rebecca is a fighter and she perseveres."