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Rebecca Gayheart is sharing how Eric Dane's ALS diagnosis has impacted her family's dynamic
In an essay for The Cut, the model and actress spoke about helping Dane navigate his ALS diagnosis
Gayheart shared how it's "nice" for her daughters to see a "softer side" to their parents' relationship, but noted they don't have "hope" for a reconciliation
Rebecca Gayheartis sharing how navigatingEric Dane's ALS diagnosis has brought her family closer.
In an essay forThe Cutpublished on Monday, Jan. 29,the model and actress spoke about helping theEuphoriastar, 53, navigate his ALS diagnosis alongside her twodaughters Georgia, 14, and Billie, 15. While Gayheart admitted that there's no escaping the future ahead of them, she wrote that she tries to focus on the current moment.
"Spending all this time together, it's all been really positive, and 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 — kids always dream of their parents getting back together, and I think now ours don't because they understand the reality of the situation."
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Gayheart went on to share what she hopes this moment will show her girls.
"Hopefully, what they see instead are two adults who are trying to be mature and focus on what's important," she said.
Dane met Gayheart in 2003, and the pair wed less than a year later in Las Vegas. They welcomed their first daughter, Billie Beatrice, in 2010, and their second daughter, Georgia Geraldine, in 2011. TheBeverly Hills, 90210actress filed for divorce in February 2018 andrequested to dismiss the petitionin March 2025.
While the pair have dated other people, she explained in her new essay that she lives 12 minutes from Dane's home, where they have "a lot of meals together" and "a lot of drop-by visits" with their children.
"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," she wrote.
Gayheart noted that she she always wants "the best" for Dane. She added, "It's a very complicated relationship, one that's confusing for people. Our love may not be romantic, but it's a familial love."
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Danerevealed his ALS diagnosis exclusively to PEOPLE in April. "I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time," he said in a statement at the time.
In an exclusive interview with PEOPLE atStep Up's2025 Inspiration Awards, Gayheart said she and theirtwo daughtersare "taking it day by day" when it comes to Dane's diagnosis.
"We have some professional therapists who are helping us, and we're just trying to have some hope and do it with dignity, grace and love," she continued. "I mean, it's heartbreaking. My girls are really suffering, and we're just trying to get through it. It's a tough time."
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