Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens’ Relationship Timeline: From ‘High School Musical’ Costars to Real-Life Lovers

 For all of the partner things, me and Vanessa always got paired up,” Efron revealed during a July 2007 interview with Disney, recalling his audition opposite Hudgens. “I was like, ‘They’re not trying us with other people.’ For some reason, we kept sticking around [for callbacks]. I don’t know what it was with Vanessa, but we kind of clicked from the very beginning.”

That chemistry ultimately landed Efron and Hudgens as the lead roles in the Disney Channel film — Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez, respectively — who meet at a holiday karaoke party and later fall in love while portraying leads in their school’s musical. The movie, which premiered in January 2006, went on to spawn two sequels, a tour and a next-generation TV series, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which debuted on Disney+ in November 2019.

During an April 2019 appearance on the “Always Chatter” podcast, Hudgens echoed the Baywatch star’s sentiment about their easy rapport. “We created a bond right from the start,” she recalled. “We were like, ‘We’re doing this, it’s us or nothing.’”

The duo’s onscreen dynamic carried into their real-life relationship and they quickly fell in love on set. By the time the movie premiered in 2006, the twosome had become teen royalty, with fans referring to them as “Zanessa.”

In June 2008, the Rent: Live star opened up to CosmoGirl about her secret to a great relationship.

“If you really love someone, you shouldn’t have to work at it. You finish each others’ sentences and have the same sense of humor,” she shared. During the sit-down, Hudgens and Efron were “oblivious to the dozen of us in the room, according to the article, and they shared a smooch and the Princess Switch star “rubbed [Zac’s] stomach.”

Later that year, Hudgens revealed during an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the Greatest Showman actor was a “good kisser.”

The pair continued their romance through all three film in the HSM franchise. In July 2010, Hudgens reflected on her immediate connection with the 17 Again star and shared how the two had changed together over the years.

“He was adorable. I mean, he wasn’t the guy that he is today. Like, he had a gap in his teeth,” she recalled to Glamour in 2010 about her initial audition with Efron. “[He’s] just grown-up. He doesn’t have his gap anymore. I look at him, and I see a man. I think that we inspire each other. [I love] having someone to grow with.”

While they called it quits just a few months later, both actors have looked back on their relationship fondly since their split.

“I could not have been more grateful to have that relationship at the time … It was this massive phenomenon and [all] eyes were on me,” Hudgens said during her April 2019 appearance on the “Always Chatter” podcast. “And it’s just a really weird foreign thing to go through, and by being in a relationship, it kind of kept me stabilized and grounded, and I had someone to lean on who was going through it as well.”

Efron, for his part, has rarely shared details about his time with Hudgens, but told The Hollywood Reporter in October 2014 that the Grease actress was “a really interesting, sweet person” during their five-year romance.

Scroll down to relive the High School Musical star’s love story:

2005

The pair met while auditioning for High School Musical. Efron told reporters at a Disney event in July 2007 that he and Hudgens “always got paired up” for “all the partner” scenes.

“I was like, ‘They’re not trying us with other people,’” he explained. “For some reason, we kept sticking around [for callbacks]. I don’t know what it was with Vanessa, but we kind of clicked from the very beginning.”

While the twosome never confirmed if their romance began during filming, Hudgens said that they “created a bond from the start” during an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s “Always Chatter” podcast in April 2019. 

2006

The duo traveled the world together while promoting HSM, which premiered on Disney Channel in January. 

March 2007

Hudgens confirmed her romance with Efron in her “Say OK” music video, in which the Neighbors actor played the love interest. Following the video’s release, the California native’s rep told AOL Music that it was their official "coming out" as a couple.

June 2007

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that the pair started wearing matching bands on their right index fingers and speculated that they were meant to serve as promise rings." (Hudgens and Efron never commented on the rumors.)

August 2007

Efron referred to Hudgens as a “very sexy woman” during an interview with Rolling Stone.

January 2008

The couple packed on the PDA while walking the red carpet at the Palms Springs Film Festival. 

June 2008

The Spring Breakers star shared her thoughts on what makes a relationship successful, seemingly referring to her relationship with the Beach Bum actor.

"If you really love someone, you shouldn't have to work at it,” she said in an interview with CosmoGirl. “You finish each others' sentences and have the same sense of humor.”

October 2008

During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hudgens revealed that Efron was a “good kisser.”

January - February 2009

The duo hit the red carpet at the Golden Globes and attended the Oscars together one month later. 

August 2010

The Hairspray star revealed that his friends urged him to play the field in an interview with Details. 

"I rack my brain thinking, 'Why am I not out there playing the field?' One of my buddies was like, 'You have no idea what's going on right now.' … But it's not in my heart," he said. After being asked if his romance with Hudgens was PR, he called the concept of a fake relationship “f—king insane.”

December 2010

Us confirmed that the pair had called it quits after three years together. 

"It was mutual," the source explained. "They have been together for so long. It just ran its course. Vanessa says long-distance broke them up. They are still talking and still friends. There's no drama. No one cheated. They just grew up.”

April 2014

Efron told The Hollywood Reporter that Hudgens "was a really interesting, sweet person," but the two were no longer in contact. 

April 2019

During her appearance on the “Always Chatter” podcast, the Rent star expressed her gratitude for the pair’s relationship during a crazy time in her life. 

"I could not have been more grateful to have that relationship at the time … It was this massive phenomenon and [all] eyes were on me,” she shared. “And it's just a really weird foreign thing to go through, and by being in a relationship, it kind of kept me stabilized and grounded, and I had someone to lean on who was going through it as well.”

January 2020

Hudgens revealed she still had the "T" necklace that Troy gave Gabriella in the first High School Musical film. "I feel like I need to sell it for charity because it's literally sitting in a little bag rusting!" she told Cosmopolitan at the time. 

Summer 2022

Both Hudgens and Efron visited the Salt Lake City school where HSM was filmed. 

“Do you remember in kindergarten how you'd meet a kid and know nothing about them, then 10 seconds later you're playing like you're best friends because you didn't have to be anything but yourself?” the Second Act star wrote alongside a clip of herself outside the building with the song “Breaking Free” playing in the background. 

One month later, Efron shared a photo of himself standing outside of the school. "Don't you… Forget about me," he captioned the post.

September 2022

The Tick, Tick … Boom! star opened up about her past relationships in an interview with NYLON magazine. 

"The public only sees so much. I've also been through two very long life-changing relationships, and no one really knows what happened except for me," she said, seemingly referring to her romance with Efron and her past relationship with Austin Butler. "When I write my memoir, it'll be amazing."

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens: A Timeline of Their Relationship (usmagazine.com)