Ever since the titles of High School Musical: Senior Year rolled, it’s felt fair to assume that Troy and Gabriella’s happy ending may not have lasted forever. That’s real life, kids. Sorry.
However, that’s not to say things haven’t worked out...
At the end of the third and final movie, Troy (Zac Efron) revealed he’d decided to go to UC Berkeley to satisfy both of his passions by studying basketball and theater, safe in the knowledge that he’d be close to the person who ‘inspires his heart’, Gabriella (Vanessa Hudgens).
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But an update from another character has shown that things haven’t been smooth sailing for the couple in the years that have since passed.
In the season four premiere of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, we saw many of the original cast members make a surprise appearance – including Corbin Bleu, who played Chad, Monique Coleman, who played Taylor, Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan, and Kaycee Stroh, who played Martha.
However, they weren’t playing the characters we knew and loved, but instead fictionalised versions of themselves.
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Yes, it’s all a little confusing, isn’t it?
In one scene, they discussed a fictional fourth movie set to be filmed within the franchise’s universe, with Bleu sharing an update on their characters as adults.
"It is our 15-year high school reunion," he explained.
"My character Chad is married to Taylor. Martha is a world-class choreographer. Ryan is happily partnered."
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As for the film’s lead sweethearts?
"Troy and Gabriella are in couples' therapy," Bleu said, revealing they’re still together, for now.
Last month, a preview for the new season also revealed that Ryan was also gay.
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It showed him kissing another man and thanking him for showing up to watch him perform with former classmates Chad Danforth, Taylor McKessie and Martha Cox.
"This means so much to me that you're here," Ryan says as the two meet backstage. "Gimme that mic."
High School Musical director Kenny Ortega has previously said that he always intended for Ryan to be gay but he didn't think audience would be comfortable with it when the franchise first hit cinemas in 2006.
"I was concerned because it was family and kids, that Disney might not be ready to cross that line and move into that territory yet," he explained to Variety in 2020.
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"So, I just took it upon myself to make choices that I felt that those who were watching would grab.
"They would see it, they would feel it, they would know it, and they would identify with it.
"And that is what happened."
Ortega isn't involved in the followup series but he always thought that Ryan would 'come out' at college.
"It was less about coming out," he said.
"And just more about letting his true colors come forward."
Topics: Film and TV, Disney
Jess Hardiman