Sandra Bullock has revealed that Jennifer Aniston was the first friend she confided in about her longtime partner Bryan Randall's battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).Randall secretly battled ALS for three years before finally succumbing to the disease on August 5, 2023, at the age of 57. He had been in a relationship with Bullock, now 62, for eight years and raised two adopted children with her.Yet Bullock revealed this week that Randall had asked her to keep his 'traumatic diagnosis' private, meaning she initially only told her sister about his diagnosis. The 'heavy weight' of caring for her partner while unable to express her emotional turmoil soon became too much to bear, however, with Bullock ultimately confiding in close friend Aniston about Randall's condition.Bullock's unwavering trust in Aniston came amid a three-decade friendship that has seen the Hollywood stars support each other through thick and thin. Yet the start of their friendship was an unusual one with the pair meeting when the actor Tate Donovan – who they both dated – introduced them at a Golden Globes party in the 90s. Sandra Bullock has revealed that Jennifer Aniston was the first friend she confided in about her longtime partner Bryan Randall's battle with ALS (pictured in 2020) Bullock's unwavering trust in Aniston came amid a three-decade friendship that has seen the Hollywood stars support each other through thick and thinBullock was engaged to The OC vet Tate from 1992 until 1995. She then rebounded with Matthew McConaughey. Meanwhile, Aniston dated Tate from 1995 until 1998 before moving on with Brad Pitt. Their friendship wasn't instant, with Aniston previously saying: 'I think everything happens in its own time, and I think for whatever reason, life had to happen in both of our worlds the way it did.'After their first meeting, the pair reconnected at a mutual friend's wedding, with Aniston recalling in a joint interview: 'I sent you a note and you sent me a shot.'There's never been any jealousy between the pair and their mutual ex, with Bullock revealing they called Tate 'our former boyfriend'.She said: 'You and I both partook of this one human being,' adding 'a very patient human being, given that he dated us both.'Aniston then joked: 'He seems to have a type.'The repartee between the two showed why they are such good pals, with Bullock responding: 'Talented. Funny. Kind. Introspective. Generous.' She then quipped that Aniston 'can be an a**hole but you're so charming!'The pair's lengthy friendship is one to be commended in Hollywood, with Bullock previously revealing that there were ploys to break them up. 'We were from that time in the business where no one wanted the ladies to be friends,' she recalled to Vanity Fair. 'It was about pitting everyone against each other.'We were told we weren't supposed to do that, meaning like and respect and honor each other.'Yet the pair stayed close, bonded by their shared love of interior design, practical jokes, lavish trips, and numerology readings.The pair met when Tate Donovan - who they both dated - introduced them in the 90s. Bullock was engaged to Tate from 1992 until 1995 and Aniston dated Tate from 1995 until 1998One thing the women have never done, however, is work together, but they root for each other in their respective projects. A source previously told Life & Style: 'Sandra founded her production company in 1995 and was generous with knowledge when Jennifer launched her own company a decade later. They enjoy discussing their business projects together.' The insider also revealed that the pair have been there for each other through emotional turmoil too. 'Sandra was a rock for Jen when she was going through her divorce from Justin Theroux. A lot of people run away during hard times, but not these two.' This week, Bullock explained that Aniston had been there for her during her late partner's ALS battle. ALS, which is known in some countries as motor neurone disease, is a rare and incurable degenerative condition that impairs the nervous system over time and causes the muscles to increasingly suffer from paralysis.An emotional Bullock opened up about Randall's decision to keep his 'traumatic diagnosis' private during an appearance on the Smartless podcast hosted by Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett.She said: 'He asked me not to share. I know why he asked me not to. My sister was the only one who knew for a while.'At first I go, "Oh, I can handle that. I can be quiet. I don’t wanna harm others because of what I do. So I think not talking for a while was good.”'The Oscar winner said Randall's desire to not share his diagnosis 'isolated [her] in the process' and that she went through 'a trifecta that was pretty dark' as she organised Randall's care while raising her children during the pandemic. She said: 'The entire world was locked in with a pandemic. It was literally like the final diagnosis, even though he was ill for half of our relationship. 'The diagnosis came almost at the same time with the cloak of the pandemic. So as the pandemic came down, and I have a child with severe asthma, I was panicking. 'I had two young kids, that were navigating it, especially a little girl who saw him as a father figure... I wasn't allowed to tell anybody. My sister was the only one who knew for a while. It's a huge weight.' Randall secretly battled ALS for three years before finally succumbing to the disease on August 5, 2023, at the age of 57 (pictured in 2018)Bullock said she eventually confided in Aniston as well as Smartless host Bateman's wife Amanda Anka about Randall's condition. Due to the fast-progressing condition, Bullock said she was 'grieving Bryan four years before he passed'. 'There was something that had shifted' she said.She added Randall had been sober for 14 years but she instructed the doctors to give him 'what he needs' due to his suffering. 'My person left a lot earlier than the body left. I don’t think I ever dealt with that until after he passed, because you’re just on this treadmill,' she said,'I had to release a film at the same time and talk about gray. I saw myself on the red carpet and I was like, you just look at my face. And I am, I'm a woodblock.'About half of ALS patients have a life expectancy of three years after the initial onset of symptoms, though some can survive for decades. ALS has been colloquially known in America as Lou Gehrig's disease ever since it claimed the life of the beloved baseball player in 1941 when he was just 37.Other notable patients have included Stephen Hawking, Grey's Anatomy star Eric Dane, SpongeBob Squarepants creator Stephen Hillenburg, English actor David Niven and Killing Me Softly with His Song singer Roberta Flack.