Now that Joshua Jackson has finalized his sometimes contentious divorce from Jodie-Turner Smith, the “Dawson’s Creek” alum may be able to offer a shoulder to cry on for Priya Jain, the 27-year-old model and TV actor who recently learned in the most public way possible that her boyfriend, Eric Dane, was seeing someone else.
Jackson, 47, was spotted in New York City Sunday morning, enjoying a coffee date with Jain, the Daily Mail reported. Nearly two months ago, Jain was “blindsided” to learn she was in “a love triangle” with Dane, the 52-year-old former “Grey’s Anatomy” heartthrob, and his on-off girlfriend Janell Shirtcliff, 41, as Us Weekly reported.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 18: (L-R) Eric Dane and Janell Shirtcliff attend the “Countdown” Premiere and After-Party on June 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Prime Video)
Jain became aware that Dane, the man she had been dating for more than a year, was apparently back “on” with Shirtcliff when the “Euphoria” star turned up with Shirtcliff at the June 18 premiere of his new Prime Video show, “Countdown.”
“Priya is devastated,” an insider told Us Weekly about Jain learning that Dane and Shirtcliff, a photographer and filmmaker, held hands on the red carpet and got “even cozier” at the premiere’s afterparty. She supposedly never knew he was dating anyone else.
During the year that Jain and Dane were together, they reportedly were together “constantly” and regularly told each other “I love you,” the source told Us Weekly. Jain also supported Dane as he learned during the past year that he had been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a fatal and progressive neurodegenerative condition.
CANNES, FRANCE – MAY 23: Priya Jain attends the “The Mastermind” red carpet at the 78th annual Cannes Film Festival at Palais des Festivals on May 23, 2025 in Cannes, France. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
“She wanted to be there for him. There was no desire not to be there,” the Us Weekly source said.
“But he has saved her a lot of heartbreak,” the source also said. “She would have been there for all of it, and it would have been devastating. He saved her years, and as heartbreaking as it is, maybe it was a blessing with the relationship coming to an end.”
So now that Jain has reportedly said she’s “done” with Dane and extricated herself from this triangle, she is spending time with Jackson, at least according to the Daily Mail. However, the Daily Mail report didn’t indicate whether the coffee date was anything more than just an outing among friends.
Of course, the inclusion of Jackson in this Jain-Dane-Shirtcliff dynamic adds to the sense that these real-life romantic couplings and breakups among a group of attractive, successful people could be plot lines for episodes of either “Grey’s Anatomy” or a “Dawson’s Creek” reboot. Jackson played teen heartthrob Pacey Witter on “Dawson’s Creek,” while the San Francisco-born Dane played Dr. Mark Sloan, a.k.a. Dr. McSteamy on “Grey’s Anatomy.”
The plot line would center on the 20something female protagonist, who is in love with her handsome, middle-age boyfriend. She wants to devote herself to him, even after he’s given a devastating medical diagnosis. But the boyfriend seemingly wants to do the selfless thing and give this younger woman the chance to get on with her life, while he returns to an ex-girlfriend, who’s closer to his age and perhaps a better partner to share this health burden. Meanwhile, the heroine turns to another man, who’s also older and comes with the baggage of being a divorced father of a young daughter, but he can relate to her situation in that his breakup also was messy and public.
But in real life, this scenario turns out to be even more complicated in that Dane is technically still married to yet another woman: Actor Rebecca Gayheart, with whom he shares two teenage daughters. Dane and Gayheart filed for divorce in 2018 after more than 20 years of marriage but were spotted holding hands in Mexico in 2023, sparking rumors of reconciliation.
Then 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 Diane Sawyer in an interview for Good Morning America in June, to discuss his ALS diagnosis. Dane said Gayheart is his “biggest champion” as he navigates his health challenges. So, it looks like Dane might be getting support from both his still-official wife and his new, on-again girlfriend. Meanwhile, Jain has reportedly reconciled herself to the fact she’s no longer in Dane’s life, Us Weekly reported.
“Heartbreaks you move on from, but the public humiliation lingers on,” the Us Weekly source said. “She wants to move forward in her career and with her life in general. She just wants this all behind her.”
