Eric Dane says in a new special filmed before his death that his breakup with wife Rebecca Gayheart was his fault.
“I think Rebecca was more willing to show up and do her part than I was,” he told Brad Falchuk on Netflix’s “Famous Last Words: Eric Dane.”
The special was released on Friday, the day after Dane passed away at the age of 53 after a difficult battle with ALS.
“I don’t have that gene of wanting to keep moving forward no matter what happens,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum continued. “I’m like, ‘If there’s a hole in the boat, don’t try to plug it.'” Ditch the damn thing and find something new. ”
Dane and Gayheart, 54, divorced in 2018 after 13 years of marriage, but called off their divorce in March 2025, one month before Dane announced his ALS diagnosis.
The couple had daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14.
Dane praised his estranged wife during the special, calling her a “warrior” who would always “protect” her.
He also acknowledged that “a lot of time was lost” between Gayheart and their children after the ex-couple’s separation.
“We’re still really good friends, but we’re not together,” he explained. “We live apart and in separate homes, so a lot of time is lost there. But I made sure to be there when I could and when it mattered.”
Dane continued, “We still love each other deeply. I think we just don’t want to live together. But there’s a lot of love there.”
The “Euphoria” star also declared, “By the time someone sees this, I will never fall in love with another woman as deeply as I fell in love with Rebecca.”
Elsewhere in the special, Dane reflected on how his relationship with Gayheart began “naturally and serendipitously.”
“I met Rebecca and I said to her friend, ‘I’m going to marry that girl,'” he recalled.
When asked how he knew Gayheart was “the one,” Dane replied, “I don’t know. I didn’t know how serious I was at that moment, but that’s what I said.”
“I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” he added.
Dane also stated how Gayheart feels about him, in his opinion.
“She would probably say that I was someone who was always vulnerable and afraid of being vulnerable,” he said. “She’ll say I’m funny. She’ll say I’m attractive, but I don’t get it.”
Before Dane’s death, Gayheart explained that she called off the divorce to teach her daughters to “show up for your family even in the worst of times.”
“We tell them, ‘We’ll do things for people no matter what. He’s our family. He’s your father,'” she shared on the Broad Ideas podcast last November.
Gayheart also admitted in the interview that she doesn’t know whether she handled the situation “the wrong way or the right way” by withdrawing her application.
“I’m just trying to show up and be there for (my kids). I think time will tell,” she said.
Gayheart and Dane both had romantic relationships with other people after their breakup.
She is in a relationship with billionaire Peter Morton, who briefly dated film director Janelle Shirtcliffe in June last year.
