Sandra Bullock’s late boyfriend, Bryan Randall, cut off communication with one of his close friends leading up to his death as he secretly battled ALS.
“I was wondering what had happened to him because I hadn’t heard from him in over a year,” his longtime pal Mia St. John told the US Sun Tuesday.
“And so I thought, ‘Well, that’s really weird.'”
The retired boxer, 56, said she reached out to Randall in the past year, but didn’t get a response.
“It’s been a long time and I was thinking, ‘God, I hope he’s OK. I haven’t heard from him,'” she added. “Now it all makes sense.”
St. John said she was in “complete shock” after Randall’s family confirmed Monday that he had passed away on Aug. 5.
The former Playboy cover model had been friends with the photographer for several years. He even gave the eulogy at her son Julian’s funeral after he died by suicide in November 2014.
“I always remember he gave a eulogy at my son’s funeral, and it was just very touching. He was very close with my son,” St. John said.
Randall also dated her daughter, Paris St. John, from 2012 to 2015. Following their split, the former athlete said she remained close with her daughter’s ex.
The taekwondo champion said she knew something was off when she didn’t hear from Randall on holidays and anniversaries.
“He never forgot a holiday, Paris’ birthday, the anniversary of my son’s death — he never forgot things like that,” she shared.
Randall’s family confirmed to Pvnew Monday that he had “passed away peacefully” at age 57 after a “private” three-year battle with ALS, a rare neurological disease that affects the brain’s nerve cells and the spinal cord, per the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.
“We are immensely grateful to the tireless doctors who navigated the landscape of this illness with us and to the astounding nurses who became our roommates, often sacrificing their own families to be with ours,” the statement read in part.
The family concluded their message by asking for “privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan.”
Bullock’s sister, Gesine Bullock-Prado, then praised the movie star for being an “amazing” caregiver to her beau in his final years.
“ALS is a cruel disease but there is some comfort in knowing he had the best of caretakers in my amazing sister and the band of nurses she assembled who helped her look after him in their home,” she wrote on Instagram Monday. “Rest in peace, Bryan.”
Bullock, 59, and Randall met in January 2015 when he photographed her son Louis’ birthday party.
A few months later, they began dating and made their red carpet debut in October of that year for the premiere of Bullock’s film “Our Brand Is Crisis.”
While she often kept her love life private, the “Miss Congeniality” star revealed on “Red Table Talk” in December 2021 that the former model was the “love of [her] life.”
Bullock has yet to publicly comment on Randall’s death.
