Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Nina Dobrev addresses Zac Efron dating rumors weeks after calling off Shaun White engagement

Dobrev was seen on vacation with Efron and their friends last month

Nina Dobrev has insisted she and Zac Efron are just mates

Nina Dobrev had a coy response when asked about rumors she’s dating Zac Efron, only weeks after calling off her engagement to Shaun White.

The 36-year-old actor spoke to TMZ at the Los Angeles International Airport on Wednesday, with a reporter telling her it must be “tough living things out in public.” The comment appeared to be a reference to her split from White.

“You know what? I’m excited for the future, and the only thing that’s guaranteed is change,” she responded.

The reporter also asked Dobrev if she was dating Efron now, after they were spotted on vacation together with actor Miles Teller and his wife, model Keleigh Teller (née Sperry).

The Vampire Diaries alum shook her head in response, before the interviewer asked if she and Efron were “just mates.”

Dobrev sparked romance speculation with Zac Efron after being spotted on vacation together
Dobrev sparked romance speculation with Zac Efron after being spotted on vacation together (Getty)

“Yeah,” Dobrev said. “We’re just friends.”

Keleigh recently posted photos from the trip on Instagram, featuring a snap of her and Dobrev wearing swimsuits and relaxing on the boat. Another photo showed the group wearing more formal attire, with Dobrev posing next to Keleigh and Efron — who had his hair dyed bleach blonde — sitting behind them.

The star-studded group trip came a week after Dobrev and White called off their engagement after five years of dating.

“It was a mutual decision, and wasn’t an easy one, but it was made with love and a deep respect for one another,” a source told People about the split last month.

Fans then looked for signs of the breakup online, and they came across a video on Dobrev’s TikTok account — posted only days before the split was reported.

The clip showed the actor dressed in a black Nike sweatshirt as she lip-synced over the audio of two women talking about “fixing” a man.

“What's your advice for women trying to fix their man?” the audio of one woman began, before Dobrev lip-synced the response: “Listen, Bob the Builder, he's got 10 other women trying to fix him too, and you all look like a damn construction crew.”

Dobrev and White got engaged in October last year
Dobrev and White got engaged in October last year (Invision)

Dobrev and White were last photographed holding hands and walking through Los Angeles on August 31. However, the actor attended the premiere of Eternity at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival on September 5 without her engagement ring. White was not present.

The pair began dating in 2019 after meeting at an event in Florida and got engaged last year at The Golden Swan restaurant in New York City.

The athlete sent the Love Hard star a fake invitation from Vogue, which asked her to get dinner with the magazine’s Editor-in-Chief, Anna Wintour.

“He made the invite look so legitimate,” Dobrev said during an interview with Vogue last year. However, when she opened the door to the restaurant, she discovered that only a photographer and White were there, before she said yes to his proposal.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in