Eric Dane's Ex-Wife Claims He Was 'In Control of the Way He Was Going to Leave' in Final Days Before ALS Death
The couple married in 2004.
Nov. 4 2026, Published 12:27 p.m. ET
Rebecca Gayheart, the widow of Eric Dane, revealed the actor had "control" of his final days before his death, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Dane passed away on February 19 at 53 years old from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS. In an interview with Today promoting the actor's posthumous memoir, My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments, Gayheart discussed her husband's last week.
Final Hospital Stay
Gayheart didn't expect Dane to die when he did.
"I had no idea that that was it, that that week was going to be our last week," Gayheart tearfully shared. "And nor did my daughters. It really took a few days for us to understand the gravity of what that last trip to the hospital meant."
The pair shared two daughters: 14-year-old Georgina and 16-year-old Billie.
Gayheart said Dane had been in the hospital many times before, but he always came home.
"He’d be okay. And we’d go back to the normal routine, which did change week by week," she added.
Realizing the End Was Near
Gayheart said Dane knew he was going to pass away.
By the third day, she knew this visit was different. The "tone" of the doctors and the "information" they provided were different than past stays.
And according to Gayheart, Dane knew it too.
"He was fully aware it was shifting, and he was still communicating with us. Not well verbally, but I could understand him most of the time. The kids could most of the time, his closest friends," Gayheart revealed.
She said that during this stay, there came a "moment" where Dane made "choices."
"He was in control of the way he was going to leave," the widow said but she did not elaborate on the specifics.
A Seemingly Sudden Death
Dane became 'more alive mentally' during his illness, according to Gayheart.
Despite knowing her husband had ALS, a terminal disease, Gayheart said she wasn't prepared for his death.
"A lot of people will say, 'Well, at least you knew, and you could have those last conversations,'" the actress explained. "But we didn’t know, because there is no roadmap. No one can tell you what the journey looks like because it’s so different for every patient."
During his illness, she also noted that he was declining physically, but he became "more alive mentally," which was challenging for her and her daughters.
Eric Dane’s Memoir
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Dane wrote a memoir about his life and ALS diagnosis.
But despite his declining health, the actor wrote My Book of Days: A Memoir in Moments.
In the tell-all, he shared about his career in Hollywood, starring on shows like Grey's Anatomy and Euphoria, getting sober from drugs, and being diagnosed with ALS.
The actor revealed his then-estranged wife, Gayheart, who filed for divorce from him in 2018, was the first person he told.
"I say to Rebecca on the phone, 'It’s what we feared,'" Dane wrote in an excerpt of the book. "I don’t remember a single word I said after that. I remember only feeling a violent impact, like getting the wind knocked out of me… and I hear her words pouring out amid her tears, ‘I’m here, we’ll fight this together, I’m not going anywhere.’"
Staying true to her word, she withdrew her petition for divorce, and she stuck by her husband until he died.
Dane’s memoir was released on November 3.
