logo
Eric Dane enjoys a date night with a lookalike of estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart after opening up about his ALS battle

Eric Dane enjoys a date night with a lookalike of estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart after opening up about his ALS battle

Daily Mail​18-06-2025
Eric Dane was seen enjoying a dinner with a lookalike of his estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart after opening up about his battle with ALS.
The Greys Anatomy star, 52, revealed in April that he's battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which progressively weakens muscles and affects physical function. There is no cure for the condition.
Eric has been married to actress Rebecca, 53, since 2005 but she filed for divorce in 2018 and the pair have been separated ever since. Rebecca withdrew her divorce petition in March ahead of Eric announcing his diagnosis and has said they co-parent well together as a family.
But he was spotted out on a date with a mystery woman who bore a striking resemblance to Rebecca on Tuesday.
The pair were seen kissing goodbye as he was picked up by a driver following a dinner date at Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
Eric gave an update on his battle with ALS this week, telling Good Morning America on Tuesday: ' I'm fighting as much as I can. There's so much about it that's out of my control.'
Eric is currently taking medication to slow the symptoms and he's also participating in a pioneering research study.
'I will fly to Germany and eat the head off a rattlesnake if [doctors] told me that that would help,' Dane stressed. 'I'll assume the risk.'
The SAG Award winner was joined by his neurologist Dr. Merit Cudkowicz, who admitted: 'It's a hard diagnosis to hear, but I want [patients] to hear that there's hope. I never want anyone to hear that there's nothing to do because there's a lot to do.'
'That's what I got from Merit when I met her. There was a sense of hope I didn't get from other doctors that I met with,' Eric noted, adding prior doctors were just 'there to monitor my decline and that's not very helpful.'
There are currently 5K people diagnosed with ALS annually, according to the CDC.
'But those numbers are going up moderately fast,' the Chief of Neurology at Mass General warned.
'It's really predicted by, like, 2040 [that] the numbers of people with ALS in the world will be increased by about 40%.'
Dr. Merit listed off some of the ALS risk factors including plastics, bacteria in lakes, head trauma in sports, pesticides, military service, and 'there's many more we don't know about.'
'There's people all over the world working on this,' the Harvard Medical School professor encouraged.
'Between artificial intelligence and other imaging technology - to really be able to to subtype people - that's what gets me excited. That's all coming in the next, I think, one to two years, if not faster.'
Back in 2014, the viral ice-bucket challenge raised $200million for ALS research 'in the US alone and it was spent quickly.'
'I'm very hopeful, yeah, I don't think this is the end of my story. I'm pretty resilient,' Eric beamed.
'I just don't feel, like in my heart, [that] this is the end of me.'
Eric first experienced weakness in his right hand one year ago, but he 'thought maybe I'd been texting too much or my hand was fatigued' until a hand specialist eventually referred him to a neurologist.
'I have one functioning arm. My left side is functioning. My right side, [which is my dominant side], has completely stopped working,' the San Francisco-born silver fox revealed Monday.
'[My left arm] is going. I feel like maybe a couple, a few more months and I won't have my left hand either. Sobering. I'm worried about my legs.'
Luckily, Eric has the love and support of his wife Rebecca, who dismissed her divorce petition in March following seven years of estrangement, as well as their 15-year-old daughter Billie and 13-year-old daughter Georgia.
'I talk to her every day,' Eric emotionally said of the 53-year-old Jawbreaker alum.
'We have managed to become better friends and better parents. And she is probably my biggest champion and my most stalwart supporter. And I lean on her.'
On average, ALS patients live two to five years following their first symptoms, but FDA-approved medications and physical/speech therapies might slow down the progression of the disorder.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Group confronted suspect who stabbed 11 at a Michigan Walmart, video shows
Group confronted suspect who stabbed 11 at a Michigan Walmart, video shows

The Guardian

time10 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Group confronted suspect who stabbed 11 at a Michigan Walmart, video shows

Several passersby helped apprehend a knife-wielding suspect who stabbed 11 people at a Walmart in Michigan, video has revealed. Footage circulating on social media showed several citizens in Traverse City confronting a 42-year old man outside the supermarket on Saturday during the attack. Among the people confronting the suspect included an armed citizen who could be seen pointing his gun at the man. 'Throw it away!' some of the passerby could be heard yelling, with others saying: 'Put it down!' and 'Get on the fucking ground.' One passerby could be seen pushing a shopping cart towards the suspect. Moments later, law enforcement could be seen arriving on scene and arresting the man. Speaking to Channel2Now, Walmart employee Tasha Nash said: 'It was a guy with a knife – people were screaming and running in all directions … I saw someone stabbed in the eye.' Another shopper, Kathryn Ann Clark, told the outlet and her friend's son and another shopper helped confront the suspect. 'It was definitely a stabbing,' Clark said, adding: 'There were no shots fired, just brave people stepping in.' Eleven victims were treated at the nearby Munson Medical Center. On Sunday, the hospital said that there were 'encouraging signs of recovery' among the victims. According to the hospital, seven people are in fair condition and four are in serious condition. There are no longer any patients from the attack who are in critical condition, the hospital added. In a statement released on Sunday, the hospital said: 'Our dedicated team of physicians, surgeons, nurses, clinicians, and support staff remain focused on providing a healing environment for all those affected by this tragic incident … Additionally, we are working on providing additional emotional support for our employees in light of this incident. We extend our continued support to the victims and their families during this very difficult time.' Michigan's governor, Gretchen Whitmer, said that she was aware of the attack, writing on X: 'Our thoughts are with the victims and the community reeling from this brutal act of violence. I am grateful to the first responders for their swift response to apprehend the suspect.'

How Gwyneth's perfectionism caused a 'noxious' atmosphere at her controversial lifestyle brand Goop: Final extract from new book reveals how she came up with THAT candle and fell out with Anna Wintour's team
How Gwyneth's perfectionism caused a 'noxious' atmosphere at her controversial lifestyle brand Goop: Final extract from new book reveals how she came up with THAT candle and fell out with Anna Wintour's team

Daily Mail​

time10 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

How Gwyneth's perfectionism caused a 'noxious' atmosphere at her controversial lifestyle brand Goop: Final extract from new book reveals how she came up with THAT candle and fell out with Anna Wintour's team

Gwyneth Paltrow may not have known as she headed into Goop's weekly staff meeting one January morning in 2017 that the company was about to be hit by one of its biggest controversies. Goop, which Gwyneth had started as a lifestyle newsletter nearly ten years earlier, sometimes promoted wacky products that attracted headlines and boosted sales.

Jamie Lee Curtis on why her mother Janet Leigh would've 'been incredibly upset' about her Oscar-winning role
Jamie Lee Curtis on why her mother Janet Leigh would've 'been incredibly upset' about her Oscar-winning role

Daily Mail​

time10 minutes ago

  • Daily Mail​

Jamie Lee Curtis on why her mother Janet Leigh would've 'been incredibly upset' about her Oscar-winning role

Jamie Lee Curtis calls herself the 'OG nepo baby ' having had a leg up in showbusiness thanks to her famous parents Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. But the outspoken 66-year-old doesn't think the late Psycho scream queen would've approved of her grittier, unflattering characters like IRS revenue agent Deirdre Beaubeirdre in Everything Everywhere All at Once. 'Today I have a freedom to be myself that my mother's generation would never have allowed,' Jamie revealed in her People cover story Sunday. 'My mother would've been incredibly upset at Everything Everywhere All at Once and how I looked. My mother would have loathed [how I looked].' Curtis continued: 'Her generation was so much about your body and what you look like. And the beauty. The beauty is just who she was. That's what her life was. My mother was literally jaw dropping. But I think that would've been very hard for her to see me with my tummy sticking out.' The Bear actress famously won an Oscar for her performance in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's critically-acclaimed multiverse dramedy, which went on to amass $143.4M from a $25M budget in 2022. Jamie also looked rough as Shelly's (Pamela Anderson) hard-living gal pal Annette, a cocktail waitress living in her car, in Gia Coppola's critically-acclaimed 2024 drama The Last Showgirl, which earned $7.1M from a $2M budget. 'Or in Last Showgirl, for [Janet] to see me in that dressing room at 66 years old. That really would've upset her,' Curtis noted. 'I know her very well. I have accepted myself in a much bigger way than I think she felt she was allowed to, through her generation.' The Borderlands actress added: 'I know that my mother was so proud of me and and what I've achieved, that she respected my husband's work and was thrilled to be a grandma.' Leigh passed away, at age 77, in 2004 after a protracted battle with vasculitis while her famous father died, at age 85, in 2010 of cardiac arrest. On Saturday, Jamie - who regrets undergoing a lower blepharoplasty at age 25 - called out the 'genocide of a generation of women by the cosmeceutical industrial complex, who've disfigured themselves.' 'I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human [appearance],' Curtis told The Guardian. 'The concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers – there's a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances. And it is aided and abetted by AI, because now the filter face is what people want. 'I'm not filtered right now. The minute I lay a filter on and you see the before and after, it's hard not to go: "Oh, well that looks better." But what's better? Better is fake.' Curtis continued: 'Her generation was so much about your body and what you look like. And the beauty. The beauty is just who she was. That's what her life was. My mother was literally jaw dropping. But I think that would've been very hard for her to see me with my tummy sticking out' (pictured last Tuesday) The Bear actress also looked rough as Shelly's (R, Pamela Anderson) hard-living gal pal Annette, a cocktail waitress living in her car, in Gia Coppola's critically-acclaimed 2024 drama The Last Showgirl The Borderlands actress told The Guardian: 'I believe that we have wiped out a generation or two of natural human [appearance]. The concept that you can alter the way you look through chemicals, surgical procedures, fillers – there's a disfigurement of generations of predominantly women who are altering their appearances. And it is aided and abetted by AI, because now the filter face is what people want' However, the Halloween alum 'minds her business' when it comes to advising her Freakier Friday onscreen daughter Lindsay Lohan, whose facial features are noticeably more taut than they were seven years ago. Jamie noted: 'I'm bossy, very bossy, but I try to mind my own business. She doesn't need my advice. She's a fully functioning, smart woman, creative person. Privately, she's asked me questions, but nothing that's more than an older friend you might ask.' Curtis and the 39-year-old former child star executive produced and reprised their roles in Nisha Ganatra's mother-daughter swap sequel Freakier Friday, which hits US/UK theaters August 8. It's hard to believe it's been 22 years since the Emmy/Grammy nominee and Lindsay portrayed Tess and Anna Coleman in Mark Waters' critically-acclaimed remake of Freaky Friday, which amassed $160.8M at the global box office. Last Tuesday, Jamie confirmed she'll play mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher in Universal's upcoming reboot of the CBS hit series Murder, She Wrote - which aired for 12 seasons spanning 1984-96. 'Oh, it's… happening,' Curtis told ET. 'We're a minute away, but yeah, [I'm] very excited. Very excited. But I'm tamping down my enthusiasm until we start shooting. I have a couple of other things to hustle, but then I'll get to enjoy that work.' The LA native's other upcoming projects include James L. Brooks' political dramedy Ella McCray for 20th Century Studios, Liz Sarnoff's eight-episode series Scarpetta for Amazon Prime Video, and Russell Goldman's scam psychological horror Sender.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store