Eva Mendes couldn’t contain her excitement after her longtime partner, Ryan Gosling, orchestrated a delightful birthday surprise during her appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

Having been together since 2011, the Hollywood pair is known for keeping their relationship away from the prying eyes of the public, despite sharing two children. Mendes has even called Gosling her ‘husband’ in public, though they have never officially confirmed whether they have tied the knot.

This past Thursday, however, Gosling, aged 45, made a rare, heartfelt gesture on the Tonight Show, coinciding with Mendes’ 52nd birthday. In an unexpected moment, he invited her on stage and serenaded her with Happy Birthday to You, backed by a spirited high school marching band. The band held up a vibrant flag that read: ‘Happy Birthday, Eva!’ to commemorate the occasion.

Two days later, Mendes took to Instagram to express her gratitude, extending a ‘huuuuge gracias’ to Jimmy Fallon and the talented marching band from New Jersey’s North Bergen High School. She also playfully hinted at her appreciation for Gosling’s grand gesture.

He then astonished her by singing Happy Birthday to You accompanied by a high school marching band, who held up a flag wishing her: ‘Happy Birthday, Eva!’

Mendes posted to Instagram two days later offering a ‘huuuuge gracias’ to the late-night talk show host and the marching band from New Jersey’s North Bergen High School – as well as a sly warning to Gosling. 

Eva Mendes raved about the surprise birthday tribute her longtime love Ryan Gosling gave her on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon this week and posted a backstage shot 

‘What a beautiful memory. And a special thank you to all the educators in the audience. We need you now more than ever,’ she wrote.  

‘Lastly, my man ….i’ll get you back for this,’ wrote Mendes, adding a heart emoji and leaving open the possibility of her own tribute on his birthday in November.

The message was accompanied by a behind-the-scenes snap of Mendes and Gosling sharing a laugh with Fallon in a dressing room at NBC.

They met in 2011 while making the crime thriller The Place Beyond the Pines, which also featured Bradley Cooper and the late Ray Liotta.

Gosling and Mendes have since welcomed two daughters into the world together – an 11-year-old called Esmeralda and a nine-year-old called Amada.

Although they rarely make joint public appearances, Gosling famously paid a glowing tribute to Mendes onstage when he won a Golden Globe for La La Land in 2017. 

‘I just would like to try and thank one person properly and say that, while I was singing and dancing and playing piano and having one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film, my lady was raising our daughter, pregnant with our second and trying to help her brother fight his battle with cancer,’ he said.

‘If she hadn’t have taken all that on so that I could have this experience, it would surely be someone else up here other than me today. So sweetheart, thank you.’

However Gosling, 45, made a rare public display of their love on the Tonight Show this Thursday – her 52nd birthday – calling her up onstage without warning 

He then astonished her by singing Happy Birthday to You accompanied by a high school marching band, who held up a flag wishing her: ‘Happy Birthday, Eva!’ 

Gosling went on: ‘To my daughters, Amada and Esmeralda, I love you, and if I may, I’d like to dedicate this to the memory of her brother, Juan Carlos Mendes.’

He is currently promoting his upcoming sci-fi adventure film Project Hail Mary, directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind The Lego Movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

Gosling, who is one of the producers on Project Hail Mary, explained that he ‘made this for’ his daughters, in a recent interview with Access. ‘As a family, I’d like a movie like this that I’d like to see. I just feel really honored that I got to make one.’

He added: ‘My kids have seen multiple cuts. They give me multiple notes. They’re basically the only critics I care about, and they are very critical and very honest.’