Eric Dane spoke highly of his wife Rebecca Gayheart in his touching Netflix special, Famous Last Words: Eric Dane.
The actor died on Thursday at age 53 after a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
In his two-episode final interview, he declared about Gayheart, 54: 'I will have never, by the time anyone sees this, fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca.'
The couple married in October 2004, separated in September 2017, and shockingly called off their divorce in March 2025 – one month before Dane publicly announced his amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) diagnosis.
They shared daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.
Gayheart wrote in a December 2025 essay published by The Cut that her love for Dane was no longer romantic, but 'familial.'
Eric Dane spoke highly of his wife Rebecca Gayheart in his touching Netflix special, Famous Last Words: Eric Dane
In his two-episode final interview, he declared about Gayheart, 54: 'I will have never, by the time anyone sees this, fallen in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca'; pictured in 2017
Dane recorded the two-part special, which was executive produced in part by Brad Falchuk, in secret.
The former Grey's Anatomy star also said about his wife: 'I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was.
'I don’t have that gene that just makes you wanna keep going regardless of what happens. I’m like, "If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to patch the hole." Scuttle the damn thing and find a new one.'
The father of two also reflected on losing 'a lot of time' with his kids following his and Gayheart's separation.
'By virtue of the distance of us living in separate homes, there’s a lot of time lost there. But I made sure that I can be there as much as possible and certainly when it counts,' he noted.
And he insisted that he and his estranged wife were 'still really best friends.'
'We still love each other deeply. I just think we don’t wanna live with each other. But there’s a lot of love there,' he emphasized.
In her essay last year, Gayheart said: '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 s**t went crazy in our relationship, and it wasn't good. We separated, but we never got a divorce; we were about to and then we didn't. We haven't lived in the same home for eight years; he's dated other people, I've dated someone.'
'It's a very complicated relationship, one that's confusing for people,' she acknowledged.
Dane and Gayheart shared daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14
Gayheart wrote in a December 2025 essay published by The Cut that her love for Dane was no longer romantic, but 'familial'; pictured in 2007
Dane recorded his two-part Netflix special, which was executive produced in part by Brad Falchuk (right), in secret
Following Dane's death, Falchuk explained to Extra how his appearance on the Netflix show Famous Last Words came about.
'We reached out about him doing the show and then, as with all the guests, the request is always: "Will you just sit down with me and we’ll chat a little bit about the show and see if there is a rapport?"
'Eric and I sat down and had dinner at his house, and we connected very deeply, very quickly,' he shared.
The streamer debuted the episodes on Friday.
Falchuk added: 'He was so honest and vulnerable and easy and funny and charming. We just had a great dinner and then chatted one more time before [we] jumped in a few weeks later.'
The producer, who is married to Gwyneth Paltrow, mused, 'What stayed with me more than anything was just his spirit and his courage and his acceptance of his frailty and his defiance against being pitied and his defiance against the disease even though he’s accepting it as it was happening.'
