An incredibly handsome man dealing with an ALS diagnosis while also finding himself in the middle of a messy love triangle might sound like a Grey’s Anatomy plotline, but it’s actually just Eric Dane’s real life. The Grey’s star (a.k.a. Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a. Dr. McSteamy), who announced back in April that he’s living with the degenerative disease, is now publicly dealing with the fallout of trying to have two girlfriends at once.
It’s been an eventful week for Dane. On Monday, he detailed his ALS diagnosis in an interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. Then, on Wednesday, he attended the premiere of his new show Countdown with director Janell Shirtcliff on his arm. The next day, a source told Entertainment Tonight that the pair had been in “an on-and-off relationship for over three years” and that they “care deeply for each other.” “Eric asked Janell to be there for him during this time, and she wanted to show up for him,” the source said.
That is quite lovely, but someone might have wanted to tell Dane’s alleged other girlfriend. According to “Page Six,” the Euphoria star had been “exclusive” with actress Priya Jain since November 2024, with a source saying that Jain was “blindsided” by his outing with Shirtcliff. “They never broke up,” the source explained. Well, to be fair, it seems like he has a lot going on at the moment.
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This source told the outlet that since meeting each other, Jain has spent “almost every night” at Dane’s house, where she is apparently keeping a lot of clothes. To add insult to injury, these two allegedly got matching star tattoos late last year. The source noted that the last time they saw each other was this past weekend, just days before he attended the Countdown premiere with Shirtcliff.
As if that weren’t a thorny enough situation, Dane is still technically married to actress Rebecca Gayheart, with whom he shares two teenage daughters. The couple filed for divorce in 2018 but were spotted holding hands in Cabo in 2023, sparking rumors of reconciliation. In March of this year, they filed to dismiss divorce proceedings amid the news of Dane’s diagnosis. “We have managed to become better friends and better parents,” Dane told Sawyer. “And she is … probably my biggest champion and my most stalwart supporter. And I lean on her.”
This situation seems like an unwieldy mess to handle in real life, but it would make for a really good TV show. Dane might want to consider adding “Call Shonda” to his to-do list, maybe right after “Pick a girlfriend.”
