Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker are engaged: Reports
Congratulations are in order! Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker are engaged after nearly three years together, according to multiple reports.
TMZ, who first broke the news, reported on Thursday, Feb. 2, that 26-year-old Tucker had put the New Year’s question to 34-year-old Hudgens.
Us weekly exclusively confirmed in January 2020 that Hudgens has broken up Austin Butler after nine years of dating. Less than a year later, the Disney alum sparked romance rumors with Tucker in November 2020 when they were spotted holding hands in Los Angeles.
Shortly before being photographed with the athlete, Hudgens got honest about what she was looking for in a partner. “Your girl is open. I feel like at the end of the day it’s just about having similar fundamentals and wanting the same things,” the actress shared. Entertainment tonight at that moment. “I’m not picky, I’m not.”
The High school musical star added: “I know what I want and I’m like, if someone comes into the picture and can give me all those things, then that’s great. It doesn’t matter if they are in the public eye or not. If anything, I’d rather they weren’t, but we’ll see.
The duo didn’t become Instagram official until Valentine’s Day the following year. “It’s you, it’s me, it’s us. @cotuck,” she captioned the photo of her kissing Tucker in February 2021. She added a series of sweet emojis, including a red heart, lips and the hand sign for “I love you.”
That same month, Tucker professed his love for Hudgens in a streaming interview during MLB practice.
“I have a girlfriend and she’s cool. She’s amazing, I love her,” he told reporters at the time. “But I don’t want it to be like, ‘Oh, Cole is dating Vanessa…’ I don’t want it to be treated differently than Mitch [Keller] abandoning his wife, or Ke’Bryan [Hayes] make his girlfriend come down. She is amazing. She’ll be around. You will see her, but you saw the headline, it is what it is.
The MLB star and Princess Link actress met in a surprising way – via Zoom. When Hudgens appeared on The view in April 2021, she shared the story of how she and Tucker met. “It’s literally the ultimate modern love story,” said the Powerless said alum. “We met on Zoom – through a Zoom meditation group.”
The singer recalled Tucker sending a GIF of him playing baseball in the group chat. Not realizing that the Pittsburgh Pirates player was actually the person in the picture, Hudgens replied, “Hot.” She also revealed that her beau was the one who slipped into her Instagram DMs.
As their romance continued to heat up, Hudgens spoke about the duo’s compatibility with ET. “We’re just the same, we’re very similar,” Hudgens explained why Tucker is her perfect match in September 2021. “We’re such crazy guys, it’s amazing.”
The Spring breakers star continued Form a month later, things were going “better than I could have dreamed” with her then-boyfriend. “My relationship with myself is something I value very much, even if things don’t always go the way I expected.”
She added: “For example, my mother got married at 25, so I always thought I would get married at 25. That didn’t happen. But I’m in such a great, healthy relationship, so it doesn’t matter.”
Before the shortstop popped the question, a source told exclusive Us in December 2021 that Hudgens and Tucker, who had moved in together, were “very much in love” and were at “the point in their relationship where they got serious and committed to each other”. According to the insider, the actress was “committed to her career and not in that headspace where she’s focused on marriage now,” but Tucker wanted to “get down on one knee and propose” because he’s “quite romantic.”
Hudgens previously dated Zac Efron from 2006 to 2010 before moving on to Butler in 2011.