Iconic Disney Channel Couples Over the Years: Photos

If Disney Channel was a huge part of your childhood, then these couples are sure to bring on the nostalgia!

Following their roles as Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens took their relationship from the screen into real life. It’s unclear exactly when the pair got together, but they first met while auditioning for the musical movie.

“My mom dropped me off out of a minivan somewhere in North Hollywood. I had no idea what to expect. There were about 40 guys, and we walked in, and [director] Kenny Ortega was there with a piano, and they put everybody in a room together,” Zac told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014. “We ran through different phases of what we would need to do — first dancing, then singing — and a few of us got tapped on the shoulder [to leave], and I didn’t. And next came the scene-reading sections, and I got paired with Vanessa Hudgens.”

The rest was history! They stayed together throughout all three movies but called it quits in 2010. When reflecting on their long-term love in 2019, Vanessa shared that it wasn’t always blissful between them.

“I remember one time we did have a fight and it was while we were at rehearsals, and I remember Kenny Ortega coming around the corner with the most concerned look on his face like, ‘Oh no, is our movie going to fall apart right?’” she said on the “Awards Chatter” podcast. “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 stabilized me.”

They’ve both since moved on, but High School Musical fans will remember #Zanessa forever.

Other iconic couples from back in the day include Olivia Holt and Luke Benward who both starred in the Disney Channel Original Movie Girl vs. Monster. They confirmed their relationship in 2012 but split in 2014. Following their Camp Rock days, Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato also dated after playing Shane and Mitchie on screen. The actors were together for a few months in 2010, but have still stayed friends since their split.

Of course, these aren’t the only examples of iconic couples to come from throwback Disney shows and movies. Scroll through our gallery to uncover the relationships fans grew up with that you may have forgotten about!

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Sabrina Carpenter and Bradley Steven Perry

Sabrina and Bradley dated back in 2015. “[It was a] really unique way to ask someone out. [It was] like the pirate movies, like they do the little bottles and they put notes in them and send them across the ocean, like one of those, and [he] put a note inside. It was cute,” she told J-14 exclusively at the time.

She confirmed their split in early 2016.

Cole Sprouse and Alyson Stoner

Cole referred to Alyson as his girlfriend in a 2004 interview with Access Hollywood. The actress opened up about their relationship on “The Night Time Show” podcast in 2016.

“The first boy, I guess, that I had like a crush on and dated was Cole Sprouse,” they said. “We were maybe 11. I don’t remember. He and Victoria Justice had a thing before me, and so I was always like super nervous, jealous — not jealous, insecure more so. She’s a babe, like what am I gonna do? What do I have to offer? I play sports — I don’t know. … He just said, ‘It’s not going to work out.’”

Christy Carlson Romano and Shawn Ashmore

Following their starring roles in Cadet Kelly, the former costars had a brief fling. “I dated my DCOM crush actually,” the actress told E! News in June 2022. “My DCOM crush was Shawn Ashmore.”

The actress went on to say that they “went on a few dates” but it didn’t go anywhere. Christy added, “It was nothing serious and he was a true gentleman.”