Vanessa Hudgens, 31, and Austin Butler, 28, first started dating way back in 2011 and for almost a decade they were a match made in Hollywood heaven. So, it was a huge shock when they split in January 2020. But there’s some good news for fans of the High School Musical star and the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood actor because multiple sources told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that their friends wouldn’t be surprised if they found their way back to each other when the time is right.
“Vanessa and Austin have a ton of history together and that doesn’t just go away because they broke up,” a source close to the former couple told HL. “Plus, there wasn’t any bad blood between them, they just had their own things going on and didn’t have enough time together to make the relationship work. Vanessa is enjoying being single for now but she still hasn’t really been able to enjoy the single life with everything going on right now. A part of her wants to wait until this is over to be able to date more and meet new people. But friends wouldn’t be surprised if Vanessa and Austin found their way back to each other at some point. They always had a strong connection.”
A second source told HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that their demanding careers ultimately got in the way of their love. “Austin and Vanessa are on completely different career trajectories right now and they are both very busy and as they navigate through all of that their relationship suffered. Long distance was a struggle. There is always the chance of reconciling especially with the times we are living in but it’s going to be baby steps on if anything like that were to happen. They are playing it as it comes and letting anything happen, even totally moving on and seeing other people. Vanessa hasn’t been single in a long time so she is actually enjoying that and wants to date here and there but there is always a chance to rekindle with Austin because they have certainly had a wonderful history.”
Fortunately Vanessa, who recently wowed fans with her performance on ABC’s The Disney Family Singalong, is coping well with her new status as a single woman. A friend of the brunette beauty told HL, “She feels like she’s on the right path and this was meant to be. They are still in touch and on good terms but right now there’s no talk about getting back together. Who knows what could happen in the future because they love each other deeply but right now Vanessa is focused on herself. She’s hardly been single ever in her life so it’s a learning process. She’s learning to put all the time and attention she would normally put into a relationship into herself. That doesn’t mean she’s shut off from dating, she’s talking to different guys and when things are back to normal she can’t wait to get out and test the dating pool again.”
As fans of Vanessa know she was spotted out with Los Angeles Lakers star Kyle Kuzma, 24, prior to the Covid-19 Pandemic — but a source told HLrecently that it wasn’t anything serious. “She actually had met Kyle Kuzma well before she was spotted with him as she’s a huge Lakers fan and they’d gone out a handful of times. She went to the games as his guest after the breakup and she always thought he was cute. It wasn’t anything serious. It was just flirty and fun dating for her though. She was having fun but that’s about it.”
The same source weighed in on the chances of Vanessa and Austin giving their love another chance and wasn’t hopeful. “The relationship between Austin and Vanessa had ended much before it actually did,” the source told HL. “She loved Austin very much but that relationship is over.”