Hollywood star Zac Efron spotted at a hip Byron Bay cafe

He is rumoured to be sheltering in Australia during the coronavirus pandemic.

And this week, there was another sighting of ever-elusive Hollywood star Zac Efron, chilling out in a hip cafe in Byron Bay.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that the 32-year-old actor was a frequent patron at local hotspot the Treehouse on Belongil cafe.

 

The Lucky One star is said to be a fan of the rustic outdoor eatery’s ‘healthy menu’ which features salads, steak and woodfired pizza.

While it may seem surprising that a star of Zac’s calibre can go incognito at the cafe, the hip venue is no stranger to celebrity visitors, having welcomed Chris Hemsworth, his wife Elsa and Miley Cyrus in the past.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday radio host Kyle Sandilands added fuel to the rumours Zac is living in Australia.      

The Sydney shock jock, 49, threatened to leave the studio when his KIIS FM co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson discussed rumours about Zac’s whereabouts during a news segment.

Kyle made it clear that he and Zac were friends, and he wouldn’t be giving away any information out of respect for the High School Musical star’s privacy.

‘I’d rather not say anything… I’m not saying anything,’ said Kyle, who had apparently learned of Zac’s travel plans months ago.

‘He’s a friend of mine and I respect his privacy,’ he added. ‘He’s not here for a movie, if he’s even here, and he may be… who knows?’

It comes amid unconfirmed rumours Zac has spent the past few months lying low in Byron Bay.

The 17 Again star is said to be quietly living in the beachside town to escape the coronavirus pandemic in the United States.

There have been several reported ‘sightings’ of Zac at cafés and restaurants in Byron Bay, but no photographic evidence has surfaced as of yet.

‘My sister just told me that Zac Efron is Byron Bay,’ one fan tweeted last week.

Social media influencer Tarsha Whitmore claimed on Thursday that she had seen the High School Musical star at Byron Bay’s General Store café.

‘Don’t mean to alarm anyone but Zac Efron was literally eating at the same cafe as me when this was taken,’ she wrote.

As of Wednesday, there have been just 7,492 cases of COVID-19 in Australia, compared to more than 2.39 million cases in the United States. 

The reported sightings come as the Baywatch star continues his low-key romance with actress Halston Sage, 26, who also doesn’t disclose her whereabouts on social media.

Zac was last pictured in his hometown of Los Angeles on January 25.  

In April, his former High School Musical co-stars all reunited via video link to sing a rendition of We’re All in This Together.

However, Zac raised eyebrows when it was revealed he wouldn’t be a part of the singalong due to a ‘bad Wi-Fi’ connection – fuelling speculation he was living somewhere remote. 

The California native is known to jump at the opportunity to fly Down Under, whether it’s for work or a secret surfing holiday.

In December, Zac was flown to Brisbane for urgent medical attention after being struck down with a serious infection while filming a TV show in Papua New Guinea.

‘I did get sick in Papua New Guinea, but I bounced back quick and finished an amazing three weeks in PNG,’ he later told his Instagram followers.

Zac previously said it was ‘easy’ keeping a low profile during his visits to Australia because of the sparsely-populated beaches down the coast.  

‘What I love about Australia, which is what we don’t have in California, is there are so many wide-open beaches where no one is at,’ he said.