Eric Dane and filmmaker Janell Shirtcliff looked to be in full couple mode Wednesday (June 18) at the premiere of Prime Video’s Countdown, a new series he stars in with Jensen Ackles. Hands were held; smiles and admiring glances were exchanged.
He was definitely not with Rebecca Gayheart, whom he married in October 2004 and just said – on national news, no less – is the person he reaches out to daily for “stalwart” support. Nope, even though Gayheart in early March requested the dismissal, without prejudice, of the 2018 divorce petition she had filed against Dane.
Dane revealed in April that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, aka ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Earlier last week, he revealed that he had lost function in his right arm due to the neuromuscular disease and felt his left arm failing.
So who’s dating whom? Dane’s relationship status is a bit fuzzy.
The Grey’s Anatomy alum, 52, has been “in an on-and-off relationship” with Shirtcliff for more than three years, Entertainment Tonight reported Wednesday. The two “care deeply for each other,” the outlet said, citing a source who added, “Eric asked Janell to be there for him during this time, and she wanted to show up for him.”
Shirtcliff, who is a photographer and director, is in preproduction on the film Generation Angst and postproduction on the horror flick Triton, according to IMDb.
But – Dane’s alleged girlfriend, actor Priya Jain, 27, was “blindsided” by his appearance at the event with Shirtcliff, 41, a source told Page Six on Thursday.
Jain and Dane met last summer and became “exclusive” in November 2024, the source said. “They never broke up.” The two have been photographed arm-in-arm in public and have matching tattoos, and she has spent “almost every night” at his house since they coupled up, Page Six said. They reportedly were together last weekend.
This three-way confusion is a tiny bit reminiscent of Dane and Gayheart’s nude 2009 bathtub video with actor Kari Ann Peniche, which Dane discussed in 2019 with Glamour. In the leaked video, the three could be seen bathing together naked – not having sex – and discussing their potential porn names about 15 years into the Gayheart-Dane marriage.
“I don’t necessarily think I was breaking any laws and corrupting anybody. We were just three people taking a bath,” he told the magazine. He added, referring at the time to the entirety of his past – including the bathtub video and his addiction to prescribed painkillers – “I have no regrets nor do I make any apologies for my life experience. It’s my life experience and I am at peace with all of it.”
As for Gayheart, she and Dane remain estranged as husband and wife even though she called off the divorce and they are in frequent contact as co-parents of their two daughters.
“I call Rebecca. I talk to her every day,” Dane said on a recent episode of Good Morning America, fighting back tears as he talked about battling ALS. “We have managed to become better friends and better parents. And she is probably my biggest champion, my most stalwart supporter, and I lean on her.” – Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service
