BRYAN Randall's longtime friend Mia St. John has revealed she was blindsided by his tragic death as he kept illness hidden from loved ones.
His family shared the unexpected news in a statement, saying that Randall, Sandra Bullock's partner, died at age 57 after a three-year battle with ALS.
Now, one of his longtime friends is speaking out in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun.
"I'm just very sorry and in shock because I didn't know he was sick," Mia St. John, the mother of Bryan's ex-girlfriend Paris St. John, said.
"It's a complete shock. He was in great shape. He was sober.
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"He had been sober for many years, so yeah, it's just shocking."
The pro boxer went on to say that other close friends also didn't know about his private battle with ALS.
"Everyone is shocked," she said while noting that she found out about his death in the news just like everyone else.
A YEAR GONE BY
Mia had been questioning what was going on with her longtime pal this past year.
"I was wondering what had happened to him because I hadn't heard from him in over a year," she told The U.S. Sun.
"And so I thought, 'Well, that's really weird.'"
She said she reached out to him at one point but didn't get a response so she thought: "That's strange."
The 56-year-old boxing champ knew something was up when she didn't hear from Bryan on holidays and special anniversaries.
She explained: "He never forgot a holiday, Paris' birthday, the anniversary of my son's (Julian St. John) death - he never forgot things like that.
"And so it's been a long time and I was thinking, 'God, I hope he's OK. I haven't heard from him.'
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"Now it all makes sense, you know?"
Prior to dating Sandra, Bryan dated Paris - a now 30-year-old model and singer - for three years.
Bryan had remained in touch with her mom, Mia, throughout the years following their breakup.
Paris also shared an exclusive statement with The U.S. Sun, saying: "I had a dream about Bryan before I heard the news.
"I think of it as his way of saying goodbye.
"My family and I will always remember him and the time in our lives we were together."
REMEMBERING BRYAN
Despite not being in touch for over a year, Mia recalled her last conversation with the professional photographer.
"Our last conversations were about Julian and his art gallery that we were doing for a fundraiser.
"And we did talk about Paris and how she was doing, especially after the death of her father [Kristoff].
"And we were texting and he would just ask how I was doing and about the fundraiser. That was it," the former model said.
The Young and the Restless actor Kristoff St. John died of hypertrophic heart disease in February 2019 at the age of 52 in his Los Angeles-area home.
Mia noted that Bryan, despite his breakup with Paris, was still part of the family and made sure to be there during special times in their lives.
"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," Mia said.
"He was just a really good person and he was so supportive to my kids and he was just an amazing person.
"He was a beautiful person and I'm grateful to have known him."
Julian died in November 2014 at age 24 from an apparent suicide after a lifelong battle with mental illness.
Mia has been a longtime advocate of mental health since his death and has even created the Mia St. John Foundation, organizing fundraisers throughout the years.
SANDRA'S PARTNER
Bryan first met Sandra, 59, when he photographed her son Louis' birthday in 2015.
The pair would then make an appearance at Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux's wedding just months later.
Sandra kept details of her love life with Bryan private but would touch on his loving relationship with her two children, son Louis, 13, and daughter Laila, 10.
"We never talked about him and Sandra," Mia said.
"He's not gonna talk about Sandra to me because of the relationship that he had with Paris. It was too touchy of a situation."
She continued: "He seemed [like he was happy]. But I don't know anything about the relationship."
On Monday, Bryan's family shared the following statement with People: "It is with great sadness that we share that on August 5, Bryan Randall passed away peacefully after a three-year battle with ALS.
"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."
The statement continued: "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.
"At this time we ask for privacy to grieve and to come to terms with the impossibility of saying goodbye to Bryan."
