Gayheart was born in Hazard, Kentucky and raised in Pine Top, Kentucky, the daughter of Floneva (née Slone), who worked in cosmetic sales for Mary Kay, and Curtis Gayheart, a miner and coal truck driver. She has Irish, Italian, German, and Cherokee Indian ancestry. She moved to New York City at 15 where she completed her education at New York's Professional Children's School and the Lee Strasberg Read more...

In her first film role, Gayheart appeared in Brett Ratner's NYU short film Whatever Happened to Mason Reese? (1990) starring Mason Reese. She also appeared in the Ratner-directed music video "Nuttin' But Love" performed by Heavy D and the Boyz.

But Gayheart's break into the television industry was a series of television commercials for Noxzema in the early 1990s, earning her the moniker "The Read more...

For a time, Gayheart was engaged to director Brett Ratner and has dated Michael Weatherly. She and actor Eric Dane were married on October 29, 2004. Dane told Flaunt Magazine about how they met:

“It’s probably one of the least interesting stories in the world,” Dane said. “It went basically like this: “‘You wanna go out?’ “‘Yeah, sure.’ Read more...