Nina Dobrev and her longtime friend Zac Efron were seen enjoying each other’s company and flaunting their impressive swimsuit physiques while yachting off the coast of Sardinia with friends over the weekend.

It emerged last week that the 36-year-old Vampire Diaries bombshell has called it quits with her fiancé, Olympic snowboarder Shaun White.

Earlier this week she was glimpsed looking flirty with Zac on a yacht off the Italian coastline, fueling rumors she was rebounding with him.

Speculation about their relationship stirred again when they were spotted this Saturday, exchanging affectionate glances while standing close together.

The longtime friends enjoyed a chat with one another on deck, sharing a laugh and taking in the Mediterranean sunset.

However, a source has clarified to the Daily Mail: ‘Although Zac and Nina are spending time on a yacht and having a great time together, they are not dating and are not considering a romantic relationship, so the current rumors of something more are unfounded.’

The insider further explained: ‘Nina wants to relax, have fun, and move on with life following a recent breakup, but this doesn’t signify that she will end up with Zac romantically.’

‘Zac is a nice guy, and they are friendly and that is all that it is, don’t get your Dofron relationship nicknames out just yet.’

During the day, they flaunted their gym-honed physiques in their swimsuits, Nina in a bikini and sarong and Zac in nothing but clinging, drenched trunks and sunglasses. 

Closer to sunset Nina cut a stylish figure in a strapless floral dress cut above the knee, featuring a low neckline to hint at her cleavage as she took in the sea air. 

Letting her dark hair tumble freely over her shoulders, the small screen siren accentuated the look with a subtle pair of earrings.

Meanwhile Zac hid his sculpted physique under a flowy white button-down short-sleeved shirt, teamed with olive green trousers.

His ash-blonde hair, which made for a mismatch with his dark scruff, was concealed under a baseball cap, and he lent himself a touch of more shade with sunglasses.

The pair were joined by Gossip Girl alumnus Chace Crawford, 40, and his model girlfriend Kelsey Merritt, 28, who couldn’t keep their hands off each other. 

The duo were first romantically linked in November 2024, but did not make things Instagram official until July.  

Also aboard were actor Miles Teller, 38, and his wife, Keleigh Sperry, 32, who seemed in high spirits as the group soaked up the Mediterranean sunshine and took turns plunging into the crystal-clear water.

Nina and Keleigh’s warm rapport was in clear evidence during the yachting trip, during which the two women were frequently spotted together.

At one point as they disembarked the ship to indulge in a spot of sightseeing, Nina struck a playful pose as Keleigh snapped a picture of her on her phone.

During that excursion, Keleigh draped her willowy frame in a full-length floral sundress with a plunging bias-cut neckline.

Accenting the look with a wicker Chanel purse and a gleaming necklace, Keleigh emphasized her doll-like features with elegant makeup.

When the sun was out, the group could be seen frolicking across the deck of their luxury yacht wearing their swimsuits.

Zac and his male friends flaunted their musclebound upper bodies as they lounged around in their swim trunks and worked on their tans.

The Iron Claw star bared his cloven-in-marble torso and strutted across the deck, his soaking wet swim trunks clinging to his thighs. 

The dashing group of heartthrobs were seen gathering together near the edge of the vessel so that Keleigh could take a picture of them. 

She herself was clad in a cheeky scarlet one-piece, accessorizing with a striped straw hat to ward off the beating September rays. 

The holidaymakers were seen sipping cocktails, chatting amiably and relaxing on deck chairs, making the most out of their pleasure cruise. 

Nina however seemed at one point seemed to be in lower spirits, wearing a glum expression as she sat down and checked her phone.

Keleigh then approached her and appeared to offer her some comfort, with the two women sharing an emotional embrace. 

Meanwhile Keleigh and Miles recently celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary. 

On Thursday, Sperry posted a slideshow featuring photos of them on the lavish yacht, including one of Dobrev and Efron.

‘Can Nina and Chase start dating,’ one fan commented underneath the post. 

Another wrote: ‘Nina living that best life.’

‘I love seeing Nina being cared for and loved by friends and family, thank you for taking such good care of her, she deserves all the love in the universe,’ a third stated. 

A fourth speculated: ‘You know Shaun White had to have messed up BIG TIME for the boys to be siding with her.’ 

Although it is unknown exactly when they became friends, Zac and Nina were seen together at a basketball game in 2010. 

During her days on The Vampire Diaries, they also went bowling with choreographer Julianne Hough, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. 

Nina’s latest sighting comes after reports surfaces that she and her ex fiancé were planning on having kids together. 

‘They both wanted a family. It wasn’t that one wanted it more than the other,’ an insider revealed to Us Weekly on Wednesday effective striking down the speculation that having children together was a potential sticking point between the two. 

Meanwhile, a different source told the Weekly that the actress ‘couldn’t wait to be married and to start a family with Shaun.’ 

Last week, the longtime couple called it quits, less than a year after announcing their engagement. 

A source told People at the time the decision to part ways was not taken lightly’The split was mutual and made with love and a deep respect for one another,’ the insider explained, noting that the two remain supportive of each other despite choosing different paths.

White and Dobrev often shared glimpses of their relationship with fans, from traveling the world together to supporting each other’s careers.

In January 2024, Dobrev revealed they like to ‘do date night every week’ and ‘alternate [planning]’.

‘One week I’ll plan it and he won’t have any idea what we’re doing so it’s a surprise for him. And then the following week, he’ll plan and it’ll be a complete surprise for me. And we do that every single week,’ she gushed to People.

Dobrev explained that these special experiences ‘keeps things sort of exciting and interesting and dedicates time for the two of us to spend together.’

‘It’s interesting because during the Olympics and leading up to the Olympics, he was traveling all over the world, trying to get to the mountains and training,’ she noted.

‘So for a lot of our relationship, it was me traveling to where he had to be, except for during Covid when I was in between jobs.’

In October, she revealed White popped the question by writing: ‘RIP boyfriend, hello fiancé.’

Meanwhile, White took to his social media to proudly declare: ‘She said YES!’

Photos showed the moment White dropped to one knee to ask for Dobrev’s hand in marriage with a five-carat ring by Lorraine Schwartz, as she cupped her mouth in shock.

After accepting his proposal, they shared a sweet embrace, with White lifting her off her feet.

White went to extraordinary lengths to make the proposal happen.

After previous plans at proposing fell through, he decided to propose in late October at a restaurant called The Golden Swan in New York.

In the weeks leading up to the proposal, he hid their engagement ring in multiple spots around their home, including the tool shed and sock drawer.

But Dobrev wasn’t feeling well in the days leading up to the proposal and decided to stay in to remain well for an upcoming trip to Africa.

Undeterred, White decided to continue with his proposal plans and arranged for his publicist to send Dobrev a fake invitation to an intimate dinner with Anna Wintour to get her to the restaurant he planned to propose at.

‘He made the invite look so legitimate,’ she told Vogue at the time.

The Vampire Diaries star even had a styling session done ahead of the event which she thought the magazine was covering, but instead was actually all organized by White.

But Dobrev was a few minutes late to the event, prompting some anxiety as she said Vogue events typically start right on time.

‘I was in a panic that Anna was waiting for me,’ she shared.

The restaurant was also completely quiet as she arrived – contributing to her concerns about being tardy.

Once she entered the restaurant, however, White and a photographer were the only people inside.

‘I went into shock. I just froze and stared at him,’ she said, before going into a state of joyful disbelief.

Meanwhile, Efron’s last public romance was with Australian model Vanessa Valladares. 

According to various reports, the actor was introduced to Valladares by her boss at Byron Bay’s General Store café in June 2020, and the pair immediately hit it off. 

Two months later, Daily Mail Australia revealed Efron had cancelled his scheduled return flight to Los Angeles because he ‘didn’t really want to go back’.

Within weeks, the couple had moved in together in Byron Bay.

Efron seemingly confirmed their relationship a few months later when they were spotted holding hands in public.

That same year, Valladares would accompany her famous boyfriend as he travelled around Australia for various work projects from late 2020 to early 2021.

But it was confirmed in April 2021 they had called it quits, with Efron’s friend Kyle Sandilands announcing on his KIIS FM radio show: ‘I can confirm [the break-up], after speaking with him yesterday.’

Prior to their relationship, he dated several of his costars, including Vanessa Hudgens, Alexandra Daddario and Lily Collins.

Over the years, he’s admitted that ‘dating is kind of hard.’ 

‘A forced awkward situation is very strange. Especially for me, for some reason. I like to go and do something adventurous. I like to go out and do some sort of crazy activity,’ he said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2016. 

That same year, he confessed he’s had bad luck with dating apps. 

‘Amazingly, when I signed up for Tinder, nobody swiped me!’ he told the U.K. Times. ‘They thought [my profile] was fake.’