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As one of the 2010s’ most popular heartthrobs, fans have been interested in who Zac Efron is dating for years.
Since his debut as Troy Bolton in Disney Channel’s High School Musical franchise in 2006, Efron has dated several famous women, including Lily Collins, Michelle Rodriguez and, of course, his High School Musical co-star (and the second half of Zanessa), Vanessa Hudgens. In an interview with The Sunday Times in 2016, Efron opened up about his struggles with dating in the public eye. “Dating is something I’ll never be able to do,” he said. “As in the dictionary definition of dating, because one way or another I’ve impacted that person’s life and they’ll soon realize it.” He continued, “A date has to be very long to dispel whatever people think about me.”
He also revealed that he didn’t have much luck on Tinder because of how many other profiles thought he was fake. “Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me! They thought it was fake … That never happened,” he said. Efron told Men’s Health in 2022 that he was more focused on “self-fulfillment” than dating at the time. “I’ve really been taking time to focus on, you know, self-fulfilment and trying to find my groove,” he said. “I know that probably when I meet the right person, it’s going to be when I least expect it.”
So who is Zac Efron dating now and who were his past girlfriends? Read on for what we know about Zac Efron’s dating history and his most recent and significant relationships.
Vanessa Valladares (2020 – 2021)
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Zac Efron dated Australian model Vanessa Valladares for 10 months from 2020 to 2021. The couple was first linked in September 2020 after Efron and Valladares were photographed on a date in Lennox Head, Australia. A source told People at the time that they met in June 2020 in Byron Bay, Australia, when Efron came into Valladares’ workplace at Byron Bay General Store & Cafe. “Zac met Ness earlier in the summer. They started hanging out in July and recently took a ski trip together,” the insider said. “You can tell that they are having fun. She spends a lot of time at this house.”
A month after news broke of their relationship, Efron and Valladares celebrated Efron’s 33rd birthday together. The actor turned 33 on October 18, 2020. “Zac and Vanessa are very happy. They celebrated Zac’s birthday with friends before the weekend,” a source told People at the time. “Their relationship is very serious. Vanessa lives with Zac in Byron Bay.” After 10 months of dating, Efron and Valladares broke up in April 2021. A source confirmed to People at the time that Efron was the one to end the relationship. “Zac broke things off with Vanessa recently. It just didn’t feel right to him anymore,” the insider said. “Zac will still stay in Australia. He just loves Australia so much. He is working and busy with several upcoming projects. He is happy, healthy and enjoying life.” The news came after Australian radio host Kyle Sandilands, who is close friends with Efron, confirmed on his show, The Kyle and Jackie O Show, that he and Valladares had split. “Well, it’s not just The Daily Telegraph [reporting the breakup],” Sandilands said at the time. “I can also confirm after speaking with him yesterday. Because I heard the rumors.” He continued, “They’ve gone their separate ways,” he added. ” [There was] no drama. It’s done. He’s back to work.”
Halston Sage (2014, 2020)
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Zac Efron and his Neighbors co-star Halston Sage were first linked in April 2014 after they were photographed together at a Los Angeles Lakers game. “They are definitely an item,” a source told E! News at the time. “They were seeing each other a bit during filming of their movie together and ever since he went to rehab they got a lot closer. Her friends love him and say he is so sweet. He’s really good to her.” They seemed to split three months later in July 2014. Efron and Sage reunited in January 2020 after his split from Olympic swimmer Sarah Bro. A source told Us Weekly at the time that Neighbors co-stars were “in a serious relationship and in love.” The insider continued, “They spent the holidays together, with part of that time in Santa Barbara.” The two split some time after.
Sarah Bro (2019 – 2020)
Zac Efron and Danish Olympic swimmer Sarah Bro were first linked in March 2019 after they were photographed together at a UFC fight in March 2019. A source told E! News at the time that “looked like they were having a great time” but were “not overly publicly affectionate.” The two split in January 2020 before Efron’s relationship with his Neighbors co-star Halston Sage. “The relationship just wasn’t working out,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. “She came back to L.A., and it never got going again.”
In an episode of the podcast “112 For Broken Hearts” in 2021, Bro opened up about a toxic relationship with an actor, who fans believe was Efron. During the interview, Bro revealed that she was a fan of the actor before they started dating, confessing that she had posters of him on her wall as a child. However, it wasn’t until later that she noticed the actor’s “anger” issues as a result of mental health issues and depression he was experiencing at the time. “He has never laid a hand on me, but I think – because I’ve been an elite swimmer, I’ve been used to being shouted at a lot – and that’s something I can not do now. He shouted a lot when he got angry and it made me really scared and I wanted to avoid that. But I think most of all, it was my own inner feeling that I had to fix this,” she said.
Bro revealed that she and the actor broke up after she was at home in Denmark and couldn’t reach the actor, so she flew to the United States to check on him. When she arrived at his door and he didn’t welcome her in, she knew their relationship was over. “At this point, we lived in two places, and I first go up to one house that he was not, then I go up to the other house, and then he opens the door, and then he says,‘ What are you doing? you here? ‘, and I was like,’ What do you mean? ‘ – ‘Yes, I told you not to come back?’. Then I was like, ‘Sorry, what?’ So my heart stopped,” she said.
She went on to accuse the actor of “manipulation” throughout their relationship. , “I had come so far that I hardly knew what was right and wrong. And had been so manipulated and almost brainwashed. But also because I was young, confused and in love, and that I chose to turn a blind eye on purpose,” she said. She continued, ,”It was really hard being boyfriends with someone where I compromised so much with my own boundaries. Eventually, I got so far away from who I really was that I couldn’t recognize myself.”
Sami Miro (2014 – 2016)
Image: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for SAINT LAURENT.
Zac Efron and model Sami Miro were first linked in October 2014 after they were photographed together. In an interview with Elle in 2015, Miro opened up about what it was like to date Efron in the public eye. “I’ve never spoken about us before, but, um, it’s definitely different,” she said at the time. “I think that you have to take that [kind of attention] with a grain of salt, and put yourself in other people’s positions. I think that’s actually a really big part of it, putting yourself in their shoes, and trying to understand where they’re coming from, and then it kinds of makes sense.” She continued, “It kind of just comes with the territory, and I know there’s no really changing that, so you just have to embrace it. If I was dating someone who wasn’t in the limelight, I might have more photos on [Instagram] of our relationship, but I do think it’s important. I mean, it’s what is going on in my life, and I think that my social can still represent that.”
The two split in April 2016 after two years together. A source told E! News at the time that Efron was the one who broke up with Miro because their “spark had died.” “[They] did not have the same feelings for each other as they did when they first started dating,” the insider said. The source continued, “It wasn’t an easy breakup. Distance and work schedules got in the way with their relationship and Zac wanted to focus on his career.” After their breakup, Miro seemed to slam Efron in a series of since-deleted tweets. “Missed your chance, bye bye” she wrote with the hashtag #iaintsorry. She continued, “Finally ready to talk about it…When you’ve never been happier and he’s still a hot mess.”
Michelle Rodriguez (2014)
Image: Daniele Venturelli/WireImage.
Zac Efron and actress Michelle Rodriguez were first linked in July 2014 after they were photographed kissing on a yacht in Sardinia, Italy. Refinery29 reported at the time that the two met through their mutual friend, Italian businessman Gianluca Vacchi. The two broke up a few months later after they had a “huge fight” following their trip to Ibiza, Spain, according to a source for Us Weekly. “Michelle is going to do her own thing,” the insider said at the time, adding that Efron was “very into her, though, and perhaps more than she’s into him.”
A source also told Hollywood Life at the time that Efron’s “addicting personality” often causes him to “fall fast” for women. “Zac has an addicting personality, which rolls over to his women. He invests into something and falls hard — fast,” the insider said. “He really fell hard for Michelle, and she wanted to just have fun and not have a super serious relationship. Plus, Michelle is interested more in women than men — so that was an issue as well.” The source continued, “As great as it would sound to most guys, Zac didn’t want to share her with anyone, especially other women. Things aren’t dead in the water, but Zac has to settle down on falling in love too fast. Michelle is on a completely different wavelength.”
Lily Collins (2012)
Image: Samir Hussein/Samir Hussein/WireImage.
Zac Efron and Lilly Collins dated for three months in 2012, seven years before they starred together in 2019’s Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. “They’re no longer together. They were never serious, though; it was just a casual thing and it fizzled,” a source told Us Weekly of their split in June 2012. “They were never in the same place at the same time.” Another source added, “Zac was never very serious about her. He didn’t talk about her to friends.” A third source claimed that the two split over their busy schedules. “It’s true that their schedules are crazy right now, which isn’t conducive to a relationship being easy,” the insider said.
Vanessa Hudgens (2005 – 2010)
Image: Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic.
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens dated for five years after meeting in an audition for High School Musical in 2004. “For all of the partner things, me and Vanessa always got paired up,” Efron said at a press conference for High School Musical 2 in 2007. “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.”
The two confirmed their relationship in March 2007 after Efron starred as Hudgens’ love interest in her “Say Ok” music video. A representative for Hudgens told AOL at the time that the music video was the couple’s “official coming out.” In an interview with People in 2009, Hudgens denied rumors she and Efron were engaged. “I think [marriage and starting a family] is great but I’m so focused on my career right now that it doesn’t really cross my mind,” she said at the time.
In an interview with Details in August 2010, months before his and Hudgens’ breakup, Efron revealed that he questioned if he should be single. “Yeah, everyone tells me that. I think a lot of guys would enjoy that. But I’m not really like that … 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. News broke of Efron and Hudgens’ breakup in December 2010. “They are 100 percent still good friends,” a source told People at the time. “We’re still friends. Who knows what the future will bring. We’re figuring things out,” Hudgens told Details at the time. She also explained in another interview at the time that long-distance played a role in their relationship. “Long-distance relationships are hard no matter what. When you don’t have face-to-face time, it’s just different. Having an iPhone helped, but it just wasn’t the same,” she said.
In April 2014, Efron revealed that he was no longer in touch with Hudgens. “She was a really interesting, sweet person,” he told The Hollywood Reporter at the time. A year later, Hudgens told The New York Times about how jealousy affected their relationship. “I went through a phase when I was really mean because I was so fed up. Girls were running after him, and I was giving them death stares. Then I realized that’s not what that’s about,” she said. Hudgens also confirmed to Access Hollywood in 2017 that she and Efron no longer spoke. “Oh, yeah, no … That’s not a thing that happens. I completely lost contact with him,” she said. Though the two lost touch, Hudgens expressed “gratitude” for her relationship with Efron in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2019. “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. 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,” she said.
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