Nina Dobrev is breaking her silence on the rumors that she and Zac Efron are romantically linked following her split from Shaun White.
Dobrev, 36, was asked by TMZ on Wednesday, October 1 about Efron, 37, after photos of the pair looking cozy on vacation went viral last month. The snaps came just one week after news emerged of the TVD alum’s split from White, 39, after five years together.
“Anything to that Zac Efron thing?” a TMZ reporter asked Dobrev, who shook her head no in response.
“You’re just mates?” the reporter asked in a follow-up question. Confirming that was the case, Dobrev replied, “Yeah.”
The actress also shared how she was dealing with facing a breakup in the public eye, revealing her stance on what’s next.
“You know what? I’m excited for the future and the only thing that’s guaranteed is change,” she told the outlet.
Rumors began to swirl that Dobrev and Efron were romantically linked when they were spotted together in Europe during a spate of recent outings.
They both attended crypto billionaire Brad Garlinghouse‘s wedding in the South of France on September 20 and appeared separately in mutual friend Keleigh Teller’s Instagram Stories from the big day.
The same weekend, Dobrev and Efron were photographed onboard a yacht with Chase Crawford, Keleigh and her husband, Miles, per photos obtained by Deux Moi.
The Daily Mail published photos on September 18 of Dobrev and Efron swimming in the sea just off the Italian coastline — fueling romance rumors even further.
Despite the speculation, an insider confirmed to Us Weekly last month that Dobrev and Efron are not an item and that their relationship is purely platonic.
“Nina and Zac are not dating and have been good friends for over a decade,” a source exclusively told Us. “Their friends always joke that they should date, but that is not what is going on. They have been there for each other through many phases of life and have always had each other’s back.”
Us Weekly learned in September that Dobrev and White had called off their engagement after five years together.
Dobrev and White initially sparked dating speculation in February 2020. Us broke the news two months later that they were officially together.
The snowboarder popped the question to Dobrev with a five-carat ring from designer Lorraine Schwartz at The Golden Swan in New York City in October 2024.
After their split, a source told Us exclusively that Dobrev was heartbroken about her relationship with the Olympian ending.
“Nina is devastated,” the insider shared. “They had finally started planning the wedding and things were in motion.”
In October 2021, White opened up to Us about their relationship, which was long distance at the time.
“We have a nice little system of how to stay in touch,” he explained. “Plane tickets are pretty much booked for any opportunity that we can go see one another. So, I know during the holiday break, we’re going to meet up, and we’re going to meet up again probably around Christmas time. Anything that happens in between, then I’ll jet over and see her. You just make it work.”
He added: “I think that’s the goal of it all and the key to it all is just making the time. [Nina’s] super organized and on top of it, so I give it to her. She always finds a way to make it happen.”
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