In 2006, vanessa hudgens gave the world one of the best teenage love stories when she appeared alongside Zach Efron in high school musical. Their characters, Gabriella Montez and Troy Bolton, respectively, had fans swooning from the first notes of “Start of Something New” on that fateful New Year’s Eve. Decades later, in 2021, she gave the world another reason to believe in love, this time through her adorable real-life relationship with MLB star Cole Tucker. The couple is the definition of modern love, as they met over Zoom and progressed their relationship after the actress slid into Tucker’s DMs. Since then they exchanged vows. welcomed a babyand shared many PDA-filled moments, even on the sidelines of the baseball diamond. Read on to learn everything we know about the dreamy athlete who stole Hudgens’ heart.

He is a professional baseball player.

Fans of America’s favorite pastime will recognize Tucker as a star switch-hitter (meaning he can hit with both hands) on the baseball diamond. The shortstop and outfielder was drafted by the MLB in 2014 and held positions with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2019 to 2022 and the Colorado Rockies in 2023. He is currently a free agent.

He is from Arizona.

Tucker was born and raised in Phoenix. He attended Mountain Pointe High School, where he began his baseball career. He played for his school’s team and represented Team USA in the U-18 Baseball World Cup his senior year. He grew up with two younger brothers, Carson “Dookie” Tucker, a fellow Cleveland Indians baseball star, and Quinn Tucker, a photographer and filmmaker.

Co-released You Can! base.

During the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021, Tucker, along with his friends and MLB players Cody Bellinger and Jamie Westbrook, founded Can!a foundation designed to raise money and awareness for mental health and wellbeing causes for disadvantaged young people.

“(We) were just talking and thinking, ‘Hey, we have this platform and we have these ideas of what would be cool to help in our backyard and across the country with things that matter to us,'” Tucker said. MLB.com in September 2021. “I also think it’s something that belongs to everyone, no matter who you are or what you do.”

he is a great high school musical fan.

The athlete basically expressed his relationship with Hudgens in 2012, when tweeted“In search of: A girl willing to look high school musical with me and scratch my back.”

Corbin Bleu as Chad Danforth even served as his role model. “When I was in fourth grade, I thought, ‘Man, I’m going to grow my hair.’ “I’m going to look like Corbin Bleu and it’s going to be the best thing ever,” he said. The Athletic in March 2020. “I did it and I’m still doing it. I sound like a nerd right now, but that’s really what happened. It became my thing.”

Everything about Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker’s relationship.

They met on Zoom.

Like any good Covid romance, Hudgens revealed to Entertainment tonight In April 2021 she met her man during a remote meditation session. “Very random, yeah. Zoom, you gotta love it,” he said.

Vanessa Hudgens took her photo via Instagram DM.

The two kept things in line. The “Sneakernight” singer proudly admitted that she took the first step by sending direct messages to Tucker.

“If I want something or someone, I go after them,” he said during a May 2021 appearance on the Drew Barrymore Show. “I totally went into his DMs and said, ‘Hey, it was nice meeting you.’ So I think there’s no shame in taking the first step.”

They got engaged in 2023.

Tucker popped the question in Paris after almost two years of dating. Hudgens announced the happy news in February 2023. “YES. We couldn’t be happier ,” she captioned her Instagram post.

A week later, the actress gushed about her man in a Valentine’s Day post. “True magnetic love is out there,” she wrote under a photo of her boyfriend kissing her on the cheek at what appeared to be their engagement party. “What a journey it was to get here, but it was worth it to reach my forever destination.” @cotuck Happy Valentine’s Day.”

They got married in Mexico.

The couple married in Tulum on December 2, 2023, in a private wedding at the Azulik City of the Arts. “I couldn’t have dreamed it would be better. I knew it was going to be magical, but it exceeded my expectations,” Hudgens said. Fashion.

They share a son.

He Spring breakers The star basically broke the Internet when she debuted her baby bump at the 2024 Oscars in a figure-hugging black dress. Four months later, on July 5, 2024, the couple confirmed that they welcomed their first child, although they have not yet revealed the date of birth or the sex of their baby.