Eva Mendes finally addresses rumours she secretly married partner Ryan Gosling

Eva Mendes has addressed rumours that she secretly got hitched to her long-term partner Ryan Gosling.

The 48-year-old Hollywood star has been in a relationship with Gosling for 11 years and the pair share two daughters - Esmeralda and Amada - together.

Recently rumours began to swirl that Mendes and Gosling, 42, had tied the knot after she shared a snap of a tattoo on her wrist that read ‘de Gosling’.

During an appearance on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, Mendes was asked about if the rumours were true but wasn’t quick to reveal all, opting to keep up an air of mystery instead.

Stand-in host Brittany Hockley asked: “There's a rumour that you guys might have secretly tied the knot. Is that true?”

To which Mendes replied: “But who says we weren't already?”

She then added with a laugh: “I like to keep it all mysterious.” I can’t relate, because if I was married to Ryan Gosling, I’d be telling everyone, to be honest with you.

Elsewhere in the interview, Mendes confirmed that the tattoo was real - having previously joked it was a temporary one - but said it wasn’t a new inking.

Instagram/@evamendes

“I do have a tattoo,” she added. “No, it's not a press-on. But I got it years ago. I posted a picture and I've gotten a lot of funny questions.”

The ‘funny questions’ appeared to centre around the fact she’d opted for her partner’s surname alongside ‘de’.

In Hispanic culture, it’s not uncommon for women to add their husband's name to their own using 'de', which naturally prompted fans to speculate that she had taken Gosling’s name after getting hitched.

However, with Mendes preferring to keep her private life… erm, private, I guess we’ll never know.

For what it’s worth, this isn’t the first time it’s been suspected the couple have said ‘I do’ - back in 2016, US Weekly claimed the pair had wed ‘in secret’.

dpa picture alliance archive / Alamy Stock Photo

An unnamed source told the publication at the time: “Eva and Ryan have always felt like a married couple.

“They are infatuated with each other.”

The magazine went on to claim they had got married 'quietly’ ‘among a small group of family and friends’.

However, official representatives for the couple denied the nuptials had taken place - so it seems we’re all back to square one and none the wiser about if they're married or not.