Fans were left pretty confused when they noticed that Zac Efron didn’t sing during the recent “Disney Family Singalong” concert. Now, Monique Coleman has shared the real reason why Zac didn’t participate in the musical number.
Yep, for those who missed it, the entire cast of High School Musical reunited to belt out the lyrics to their hit song “We’re All In This Together” for the special musical event, which took place on Thursday, April 16, but some people were not happy when they noticed that Zac didn’t participate in the song. Instead, he sent in a video message recorded on his phone that was used to introduce the cast.
“Hi everyone, I hope that you’re safe, and that you’re healthy and you’re doing as well as possible during these unprecedented times,” Zac said before his castmates started singing. “It’s my greatest pleasure to introduce a musical performance by some of my oldest friends, and some new ones. I hope you enjoy — and remember: we are all in this together.”
It turns out, the actor’s bad WiFi was to blame. Monique told TMZ that the last she heard, he was in Papua New Guinea filming for his Quibi show, Killing Zac Efron.
“I thought it was really cool that he was able to come in at the last minute and just do something,” the actress dished. “Zac to me is one of the realest people I’ve known and he’s always been very grounded and more concerned with being a person than a celebrity, and I respect that.”
Before showing his video message to fans, host Ryan Seacrest explained that, “This star is hunkered down in the middle of nowhere with patchy WiFi, but he does not want to miss out on tonight.” Plus, according to director Kenny Ortega, Zac was a last minute addition to the reunion!
“We couldn’t reach Zac until late but when we did, he immediately jumped in, of course,” he told Deadline before the special aired. “Everyone we reached out to was quick — and you’ll see it in their spirit and the way they come together from their homes. They recognize this is an opportunity to strengthen spirits for those joining us for the broadcast.”
Besides Monique, Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu, Monique Coleman and Lucas Grabeel all teamed up for the event, and boy, was it epic seeing them all together again.
Some fans speculated at the time that Zac’s absence from the musical number was because he actually never sang the song in the first place. Yep, for those who didn’t know, Drew Seeley actually sang Zac’s lines in the first HSM movie.
Other fans have theorized that his rocky past with ex-girlfriend Vanessa may have contributed to his absence. For those who forgot, they dated for five magical years, but when they called it quits in 2010, they didn’t end things on great terms. And in 2017, Vanessa revealed they are no longer on speaking terms.
“I completely lost contact with him,” she said.
The actress also revealed to Cosmopolitan in January 2020 that she hadn’t “seen Zac or spoken to him in years.”
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