Corbin Bleu and HSMTMTS showrunner swear Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens aren't in season 3

Turns out we're not all in this together.

Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens recently sparked wild speculation among High School Musical fans when they posted separate Instagram photos of themselves returning to the real East High where the Disney films were shot more than 15 years ago. After all, it didn't feel like a stretch to imagine that they might be filming cameos on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Efron posted his photo less than a week before the self-referential Disney+ series based on the movies launched its third season, and Hudgens posted hers about a month prior. The timing felt super suspicious, especially since Efron and Hudgens have been infamously keeping their distance from the franchise for years after their breakout roles as Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez.

But when EW asked Tim Federle, the showrunner of HSMTMTS, and Corbin Bleu, who costarred with Efron and Hudgens on High School Musical and is guest-starring on HSMTMTS, they both denied that Efron and Hudgens would appear in season 3.

"You've got to ask, I know: 'What are they doing on the quad?!'" Federle said with a laugh, adding that he knows the timing of the photos was "very tantalizing."

"You know, I really want the audience to watch all eight episodes [of season 3] because it'll really, really help us to get that season 5 [renewal], but I would be lying to you if I said that there's some big Zac and Vanessa plan at this point," he continued. "I've been hammering away at this quietly and slowly for years: As long as this show is on the air, I will not sleep until Zac, Vanessa, Ashley [Tisdale], and Monique [Coleman] do the series in some way. It is all in the works, but I would not hold your breath for a big appearance in season 3."

Hmm… does that mean they could appear in season 4, which has already been ordered by Disney+? Unfortunately, the showrunner wouldn't spill any details about future seasons.

FRED HAYES/DISNEY CHANNEL Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens in 'High School Musical'

HSMTMTS has already featured original film stars Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan Evans in all three movies, and Kaycee Stroh, who played breakdancer Martha Cox, in small appearances in the first season. But in season 3, Bleu, who played Troy's BFF Chad Danforth in all three movies, will be the first to take on a major guest-starring role across multiple episodes.

Federle said the arc was necessary to "bridge the gap" between the first two seasons, set at East High, and season 3, which relocates everyone to summer camp. "We were looking for this OG Wildcat presence," he explained. "Corbin felt like a great bridge between all of the different franchises, and he was just the perfect gentleman and had a break in his schedule, and he's in demand and he was so cool." But Federle also admitted it would be a "dream come true" if he could eventually get Efron and Hudgens to come back. "It would be so big, right?"

As for Bleu, he called Efron and Hudgens' Instagram posts "a coincidence" and said, "The universe does funny things."

"It is always just interesting how you can be talking about someone and all of a sudden they call you," he added. "I think that's just such a great example of what's happening right now. Clearly the energy is surrounding the project, and we're all feeling it."

Unlike his two HSM costars, Bleu hasn't been back to the real high school where the movies were filmed. "I haven't been back to East High, but I have been back to Lava Springs," he said, referring to the fictional country club where the second movie took place. "My wife and I took a road trip in 2019, and we did stop in Utah and we actually went to the original golf course where we shot the second movie, and we stayed there. They took great care of us. It was really, really cool, just to be back there. Even the layout of the rooms where we shot, it's all the same. We went back and revisited some of the old locations where we shot the movies. It was really special."

Making his return to the High School Musical universe wasn't something Bleu ever expected to happen, but he's grateful for the full-circle moment. "I actually got very emotional toward the end of this," he said. "I definitely found myself, as anyone who grows up as a child actor does, working to distance myself in a way, to just be able to show that this project isn't the only thing I do. And I've worked on branching out to do a variety of different projects, and also my stage career. But I think enough time has passed that I've been able to come back and look at it from such an objective point of view."

HSMTMTS season 3 debuts new episodes on Wednesdays on Disney+.

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