Rebecca Gayheart always kept Eric Dane close, even though they weren’t together. 

Leading up to the Grey’s Anatomy alum’s tragic death after his battle with ALS on February 19, his ex maintained an extremely close bond to support him through his illness. 

“We are best friends,” Rebecca told E! News in April, shortly after he shared his diagnosis with the world. “We are really close. We are great co-parents.”

Indeed, while the couple—who share daughters Billie, 15, and Georgia, 14—separated in 2017, they never got a divorce. As Rebecca put it, “We really figured out the formula to staying a family and I think our kids are benefiting greatly from it and we are as well.”

Despite the end of their romance, Rebecca assured that she still considered her relationship with Eric extremely steady. 

“I think it’s important to not look at a relationship that ends as a failure,” the 54-year-old said. “It’s just a season. It wasn’t a failure. It was a huge success. We were married for, I mean, we are still married, but together for 15 years and we had two beautiful kids so I think that’s a successful relationship, and that’s how we look at it.”