“I have been diagnosed with ALS,” the Grey’s Anatomy alum announced in a statement to People at the time, sharing his health battle with the world. “I am grateful to have my loving family by my side as we navigate this next chapter.”
He continued, “I feel fortunate that I am able to continue working and am looking forward to returning to the set of Euphoria next week. I kindly ask that you give my family and I privacy during this time.”
Dane and his estranged wife, Rebecca Gayheart, share daughters Billie and Georgia. Though he and Gayheart have kept their daughter’s reaction to his diagnosis relatively private, Gayheart did share a slight insight into how the illness is impacting their children.
“My girls are really suffering, and we’re just trying to get through it,” she told People in September 2025. “It’s a tough time.”
Keep scrolling to read what Dane’s family has said about his ALS diagnosis.
In a September 2025 interview with People, Dane’s estranged wife Rebecca Gayheart admitted that the pair’s two daughters, Billie and Georgia, are “really struggling” with their dad’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,” Gayheart told the outlet at the time. “I mean, it’s heartbreaking. My girls are really suffering, and we’re just trying to get through it. It’s a tough time.”
During an appearance on the “Broad Ideas” podcast in November 2025, Gayheart also noted that adults have attempted to reach out to Billie and Georgia via social media about Dane’s diagnosis — and she’s not a fan of the behavior.
“Adults are reaching out,” she explained. “Sending them messages or trying to follow them because they have private accounts. I don’t know how nefarious it is, but I just stop it.”
She continued: “Adults should never reach out to children. That’s all I know, period. But it’ll be disguised as, you know, ‘Oh I’m just checking in because I love your dad and I just want to make sure.’ I’m like, ‘That’s an adult? Stop.’ It’s a stranger, it’s an adult, you don’t need to speak to them.”
In the same “Broad Ideas” interview, Gayheart also revealed how she speaks to the pair’s daughters about their dad. Gayheart and Dane are separated, though the actress retracted her 2018 divorce filing in March 2025.
“He is our family. He is your father,” Gayheart said of how she speaks to her girls about their relationship. “We show up, and we try to do it with some dignity and some grace and just get through it.”
“We’ve been separated for eight years. The kids live with me 100 percent of the time. There’s been lots of just stuff, other stuff,” she added. “I try to stay optimistic, though, about it all. I’m trying to learn from it and [be a] role model for them [for] how to go through something like this, which is really hard.”
She also admitted, “I don’t know if I’m doing it well or if I’m doing it in the wrong way or the right way. I’m just showing up. I’m showing up, and I’m trying to be there for them. I guess time will tell.”
