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Vanessa Hudgens has credited her relationship with Zac Efron for keeping her "stabilised and grounded" as she skyrocketed to fame.
The actress was a relative unknown before she was cast as Gabriella Montez in Disney Channel movie High School Musical back in 2006. The film became a worldwide success and made Vanessa and her co-star Zac household names, leading to a further two movies.
As well as forging a professional relationship through working together on the films, Vanessa and Zac became romantically involved, and reportedly started dating in 2007. Despite the romance not lasting, the 30-year-old, who is now in a happy relationship with Austin Butler, remains "grateful" for the courtship.
"It started off really organically," she said during an interview on the Awards Chatter podcast. "I could not have been more grateful to have that relationship at the time.
"(High School Musical) 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 stabilised and grounded, and I had someone to lean on who was going through it as well."
During the romance, which came to an end in 2010, Vanessa and Zac faced their fair share of challenges. Recalling one fight she had with her now ex, the star shared: "I remember one time we did have a fight and it was while we were at rehearsals, and I remember (director) Kenny Ortega coming around the corner with the most concerned look on his face like, 'Oh no, is our movie going to fall apart?'"
However, Vanessa was able to put the work first and concentrate on her various projects.
"I pride myself on being a professional, so I was like, 'That aside, we are going to move forward and do what we need to do.' And we sorted it all out. I think because I was so young, I think that relationship stabilised me," she smiled.
While Vanessa has been dating Austin since 2011, 31-year-old Zac has yet to settle down with anyone.