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Did Zac Efron skip 'High School Musical' reunion to avoid performing alongside ex Vanessa Hudgens?

A source claims the actor wants to move on from his painful breakup and only recorded the introductory message as a favor to HSM director Kenny Ortega

BY JENIFER GONSALVES

PUBLISHED APR 25, 2020

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens (Getty Images)

Zac Efron's 17-second appearance during the High School Musical segment of the 'Disney Family Singalong', sans any singing, still has fans up in arms, but it turns out he may have had a few reasons for not participating — including not wanting to sing alongside ex Vanessa Hudgens.

In Efron's pre-recorded clip that was included in the show, the 32-year-old actor said, "It is my greatest pleasure to introduce a musical performance by some of my oldest friends — and some new ones — and I hope you remember, we are all in this together."

This was followed by Hudgens and fellow 'High School Musical' castmates Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel performing a virtual version of the song 'We're All In This Together'.

Earlier reports indicated that Efron was unable to participate due to technical difficulties or more specifically a "patchy wi-fi" resulting from him currently being off-grid in Papa New Guinea where he is currently filming for his Quibi show 'Killing Zac Efron'.

Coleman later revealed that even High School Musical director Kenny Ortega also had a hard time reaching the actor when putting the reunion together, adding that Efron's dodgy wi-fi made it difficult for him to participate in filming the song, which took a whole day.

Some fans, however, have begun speculating if there were perhaps other reasons why Efron would have chosen to not participate in the event, including his aversion to doing reunions, the fact that he didn't actually sing in the first 'High School Musical' movie (Drew Seeley sang for Troy Bolton), as well as his disinterest in working alongside Hudgens, whom he reportedly dated from 2005 to 2010.

Actors Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron arrive at the premiere of Universal Pictures' 'Charlie St Cloud' at the Village Theater on July 20, 2010, in Los Angeles, California (Getty Images)

Efron and Hudgens, who fans nicknamed "Zanessa", began dating during their time as the leads in the High School Musical franchise. As the movies shot to fame, so did the two actors and their relationship.

Despite being a high-profile relationship, the two were rarely in the news and had an amicable breakup. Yet, they are allegedly no longer on speaking terms, and apparently, there is still a lot of hurt when it comes to the relationship. For Efron, at least.

A source revealed that Efron was eager to participate in the show, but opted out due to it meaning he would have to work alongside Hudgens again, which would have been difficult because the two allegedly don't talk anymore.

The source also claims that Efron is in a very different place in his life now and wants to move on from his High School Musical past, adding the short recorded introduction message from Efron was simply done as a favor to Ortega, and that Efron would definitely not be singing any of the music from the show again anytime soon.

"There is just way too much baggage," the source states. Hudgens, however, seems to be unbothered by the situation. "Vanessa is proud of what she did with her High School Musical return, she really thought it was fun and for a good cause," states an insider.

The source continues, "Regardless of Zac not singing it is nothing she can control. She did it for her reasons and he did it for his reasons, she can’t babysit others' plans. She is proud to have done it and that’s that."