Sandra Bullock’s longtime partner, Bryan Randall, has died at age 57 following a private battle with ALS.

News of Randall’s death, first reported by People and confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter, came as a shock as the model-turned-photographer did not publicly disclose his diagnosis. Through a statement attributed to his “loving family,” Randall passed away “peacefully” on Saturday.

“Bryan chose early to keep his journey with ALS private and those of us who cared for him did our best to honor his request. 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. “At this time we ask for privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan.”

Though she’s lived her life in the public eye for decades as one of Hollywood’s most successful movie stars, Bullock is known to be private about her personal life. She did, however, open up a bit about her relationship with Randall during a 2021 appearance on Facebook Watch’s Red Table Talk opposite Jada Pinkett Smith.

“I found the love of my life. We share two beautiful children — three children, [Randall’s] older daughter. It’s the best thing ever,” Bullock said at the time, referencing her two adopted children, son Louis and daughter Laila. “I don’t wanna say do it like I do it, but I don’t need a paper to be a devoted partner and devoted mother. I don’t need to be told to be ever present in the hardest of times. I don’t need to be told to weather a storm with a good man.”

Per People, the pair met in 2015 when Randall was hired to photograph a birthday party for Bullock’s son, Louis. “He’s the example that I would want my children to have. I have a partner who’s very Christian and there are two different ways of looking at things. I don’t always agree with him, and he doesn’t always agree with me. But he is an example even when I don’t agree with him.”

Randall, from Portland, Oregon, worked as a fashion model for luxury brands like Hugo Boss and Saint Laurent before a career transition led him to become a photographer.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, better known as ALS and Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a progressive neurological illness that is always fatal. Randall’s family is suggesting donations be made to the ALS Association and Massachusetts General Hospital.