Despite doing racy movie scenes with Nicole Kidman and accidentally dropping condoms on the red carpet, Zac Efron's image has remained squeaky clean. So we were shocked to learn that Efron, 25, quietly completed a rehab stint earlier this year.
E! News reports that the former High School Musical star is now clean and sober, after going into treatment for alcohol addiction about five months ago.
"He's healthy, happy and not drinking. He's taking time to focus on working," said one E! source.
Efron is certainly looking good, as evidenced by this shirtless promo for his new comedy Neighbors (check it out). But while we were ogling his abs, did the actor secretly hit rock bottom? TMZ claims that his addiction was something even more severe than alcohol.
"It was common knowledge he was struggling with cocaine," a source connected to Neighbors told the website (which also says he was using Molly).
According to TMZ, Efron began to spiral out of control earlier this year. He reportedly trashed a room at the MGM Grand in Vegas during a "coke rager," causing around $50,000 in damage. He also let his partying interfere with his work, sometimes failing to show up altogether while he was shooting Neighbors.
The actor hasn't commented on these new reports, and his rep has issued just one statement: "Don't think we'll be making a comment."
Even if he's not ready to talk, Efron actually comes off quite well in this story. He had a problem; he messed up; he got treatment; and now he's good. It's a nice contrast to the many stars—particularly, ahem, former teen stars—who won't admit that they need rehab. Zac caught himself before he had a total public meltdown. An addict's battle is never really over, but Efron is showing himself to be a fighter. And we'll take fighter over squeaky-clean any day.
Donna Kaufman is a freelance writer and iVillage contributor—find her on Twitter.
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.