Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens like to keep things private

Zac Efron (22) thinks the reason his relationship with Vanessa Hudgens works is because they stay out of the limelight.

The actor, who began dating the brunette beauty after they met on the set of High School Musical in 2005, revealed the couple “take pride” in keeping their five-year relationship private and try not to let attention bother them too much.

“Not much of it is public to be honest. We don’t talk about it other than the fact that it exists. We just try to keep it to ourselves, which is what we take a sense of pride in because we don’t need to share that,” he said.

“During High School Musical I didn’t know how to handle it, but if you just live your life and keep doing what you do and don’t care if they take pictures — they can’t slow you down.

“I sensed a pattern — if you do keep your head down and sneak in the back entrances or whatever then they inevitably stop coming because they’re not getting what they want.”