Nina Dobrev and Zac Efron Flirt Amid Romance Rumors After Shaun White Split

An old video of Nina Dobrev and Zac Efron resurfaced this week amid their romance rumors – and their chemistry sent fans wild even back then.

Posted on Zac’s YouTube channel in 2019, the original upload was a playful montage in which he introduced Nina to his gym routine with the help of trainers.

In comments posted four to six years ago, viewers could not help but notice the ‘flirty’ vibe between them, particularly Zac’s blushing attention towards Nina.

One such moment came when he asked about her ‘favorite piece of clothing that you own,’ and she replied: ‘My lingerie,’ prompting him to giggle and go pink in the face.

After one workout, Nina lifted Zac’s shirt to show the audience his washboard abs, then said: ‘You gotta work hard to…something else hard – work hard to play hard,’ at which point they both dissolved into cheeky laughter. 

Now Zac and Nina have set off a round of dating rumors as they were glimpsed this Thursday on a yacht getaway off the Italian coastline – just one week after news broke that she had split from Olympic snowboarder Shaun White.

Zac and Nina’s 2019 gym video was filled with moments that viewers could easily seize on to share theories about a frisson between them. 

He often shot admiring glances towards her, and in an early clip he told her appreciatively: ‘Clearly, you train. You love to work out.’

Then he complimented her bracelet, asking: ‘Are those diamonds?’ and touching her wrist, before getting bashful when she answered that they were pearls.

Zac’s trainer Johnny Fontana arrived on the scene to segue them into their workouts, with Nina saying she wanted to concentrate on her ‘abs and butt.’

‘Let’s do some butt stuff and some ab stuff,’ Zac said, and then when Johnny noted: ‘We do some weird stuff in here,’ Zac joked: ‘Some weird butt stuff,’ to which Nina chuckled coyly: ‘That doesn’t sound right.’

After one particularly strenuous exercise, an exhausted Zac rolled over and rested his head gently on Nina’s knee, as she cheered him on and gave him a high-five.

In comments posted years ago, fans cooed over their dynamic, with one writing: ‘why is zak lowkey crushing on nina- imagine being crushed on casually by troy bolton while working out with him.’

‘By all the times he was touching his face, he was nervous as hell, and I don’t blame him. She’s beautiful!’ wrote another commenter.

Others sniggered: ‘Zac flirts like a high school boy lol “are those diamonds?” touches wrists,’ and: ‘Ok but like why is zac kinda crushing on nina.’ 

‘We’re not gonna talk about how they looked like they were flirting in the beginning?’ asked another, as still another was clearly charmed, writing: ‘I think Zac is VERY into Nina hahaha, love them, this was fun to watch.’  

Zac and Nina sparked romance rumors this week after they were spotted looking flirtatious on a glamorous getaway off the coast of Italy.

The pair were joined by Gossip Girl alumni Chace Crawford, 40, and his model girlfriend Kelsey Merritt, 28, who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. 

The duo were first romantically linked in November 2024, but did not make things Instagram official until July.  

Also aboard were actor Miles Teller, 38, and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, 32, who seemed in high spirits as the group soaked up the Mediterranean sunshine, sipped cocktails and took turns plunging into the crystal-clear water.

The couple recently celebrated their  sixth wedding anniversary. 

On Thursday, Sperry posted a slideshow featuring photos of them on the lavish yacht, including one of Dobrev and Efron.

‘Can Nina and Chase start dating,’ one fan commented underneath the post. 

Another wrote: ‘Nina living that best life.’

‘I love seeing Nina being cared for and loved by friends and family, thank you for taking such good care of her, she deserves all the love in the universe,’ a third stated. 

A fourth speculated: ‘You know Shaun White had to have messed up BIG TIME for the boys to be siding with her.’ 

Although it is unknown exactly when they became friends, Zac and Nina were seen together at a basketball game in 2010. 

During her days on The Vampire Diaries, they also went bowling with choreographer Julianne Hough, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Nina’s latest sighting comes after reports surfaces that she and her ex fiancé were planning on having kids together. 

‘They both wanted a family. It wasn’t that one wanted it more than the other,’ an insider revealed to Us Weekly on Wednesday effective striking down the speculation that having children together was a potential sticking point between the two. 

Meanwhile, a different source told the Weekly that the actress ‘couldn’t wait to be married and to start a family with Shaun.’ 

Last week, the longtime couple called it quits, less than a year after announcing their engagement. 

A source told People at the time the decision to part ways was not taken lightly’The split was mutual and made with love and a deep respect for one another,’ the insider explained, noting that the two remain supportive of each other despite choosing different paths.

White and Dobrev often shared glimpses of their relationship with fans, from traveling the world together to supporting each other’s careers.

In January 2024, Dobrev revealed they like to ‘do date night every week’ and ‘alternate [planning]’.

‘One week I’ll plan it and he won’t have any idea what we’re doing so it’s a surprise for him. And then the following week, he’ll plan and it’ll be a complete surprise for me. And we do that every single week,’ she gushed to People.

Dobrev explained that these special experiences ‘keeps things sort of exciting and interesting and dedicates time for the two of us to spend together.’

‘It’s interesting because during the Olympics and leading up to the Olympics, he was traveling all over the world, trying to get to the mountains and training,’ she noted.

‘So for a lot of our relationship, it was me traveling to where he had to be, except for during Covid when I was in between jobs.’

In October, she revealed White popped the question by writing: ‘RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé.’

Meanwhile, White took to his social media to proudly declare: ‘She said YES!’

Photos showed the moment White dropped to one knee to ask for Dobrev’s hand in marriage with a five-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz, as she cupped her mouth in shock.

After accepting his proposal, they shared a sweet embrace, with White lifting her off her feet.

White went to extraordinary lengths to make the proposal happen.

After previous plans at proposing fell through, he decided to propose in late October at a restaurant called The Golden Swan in New York.

In the weeks leading up to the proposal, he hid their engagement ring in multiple spots around their home, including the tool shed and sock drawer.

But Dobrev wasn’t feeling well in the days leading up to the proposal and decided to stay in to remain well for an upcoming trip to Africa.

‘I was in a panic that Anna was waiting for me,’ she shared.

The restaurant was also completely quiet as she arrived – contributing to her concerns about being tardy.

Once she entered the restaurant, however, White and a photographer were the only people inside.

‘I went into shock. I just froze and stared at him,’ she said, before going into a state of joyful disbelief.

Meanwhile, Efron’s last public romance was with Australian model Vanessa Valladares. 

According to various reports, the actor was introduced to Valladares by her boss at Byron Bay’s General Store café in June 2020, and the pair immediately hit it off. 

Undeterred, White decided to continue with his proposal plans and arranged for his publicist to send Dobrev a fake invitation to an intimate dinner with Anna Wintour to get her to the restaurant he planned to propose at.

‘He made the invite look so legitimate,’ she told Vogue at the time.

The Vampire Diaries star even had a styling session done ahead of the event which she thought the magazine was covering, but instead was actually all organized by White.

But Dobrev was a few minutes late to the event, prompting some anxiety as she said Vogue events typically start right on time.

Two months later, Daily Mail Australia revealed Efron had cancelled his scheduled return flight to Los Angeles because he ‘didn’t really want to go back’.

Within weeks, the couple had moved in together in Byron Bay.

Efron seemingly confirmed their relationship a few months later when they were spotted holding hands in public.

That same year, Valladares would accompany her famous boyfriend as he travelled around Australia for various work projects from late 2020 to early 2021.

But it was confirmed in April 2021 they had called it quits, with Efron’s friend Kyle Sandilands announcing on his KIIS FM radio show: ‘I can confirm [the break-up], after speaking with him yesterday.’

Prior to their relationship, he dated several of his costars, including Vanessa Hudgens, Alexandra Daddario and Lily Collins.

Over the years, he’s admitted that ‘dating is kind of hard.’ 

‘A forced awkward situation is very strange. Especially for me, for some reason. I like to go and do something adventurous. I like to go out and do some sort of crazy activity,’ he said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2016. 

That same year, he confessed he’s had bad luck with dating apps. 

‘Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me!’ he told the U.K. Times. ‘They thought [my profile] was fake.’