Zac Efron's 'real vocals' from High School Musical leaked 20 years later leaving fans divided

It's been nearly 20 years since High School Musical first graced our screens and changed the course of cinematic history forever - and now a previously unheard clip has fans shook.

The hit Disney musical, which has since cemented itself as a cult-classic favourite and effectively launched the careers of those who would go on to become some of Hollywood's most famous A-listers, including Vanessa Hudgens, who played Gabriella Montez, as well as Ashley Tisdale, who aced her portrayal of Sharpay Evans.

Oh yeah, and we can't forget the icon that is Troy Bolton - AKA Zac Efron.

The franchise went on to give us two more box-office smash-hit flicks: High School Musical 2 in 2007 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, which hit cinemas the following year in 2008.

Now, it's safe to say that, despite the final film of the trilogy coming out 17 years ago, the HSM fandom isn't going anywhere, with many members still to this day taking to social media to share their various hot takes, speculations and theories regarding the movies, the cast and all the behind-the-scenes antics.

Talking of HSM theories, there's been a whole load of chatter for ages now about Troy's character's singing voice not being actually portrayed by Efron in the first film and was instead Drew Seeley.

And now, after all these years, the star's 'real vocals' have appeared to have finally been leaked nearly two decades later, leaving many fans divided.

A YouTube video which purports to show Efron's vocals for 'Get'cha Head In The Game' was uploaded last month (26 October).

From the looks of things, the video seems legit as the voice in question sounds super similar to Efron's own singing voice - however, the clip wasn't officially released by Disney or officially confirmed, so take it with a pinch of salt.

The clip has since gone viral, with many rushing online to share their reactions. One X user penned: "Okay this isn’t the worst, but it shows how much he really improved in the later films… he lowkey owes Drew Seeley for this starting point in his career tho because I would not have been singing along to this version as a kid."

"This isn't THAT bad, they were actually acting like his voice was nails on a chalkboard back in the day but Drew Seeley was DEF the better choice overall," echoed a second.

A third chimed in: "Glad Zac Efron sat his vocal out for the first movie. Drew Seeley did his big one for Disney, but for some reason, Disney likes his voice but does not like him as an actor."

Another joked: "Disney Channel said, 'at the end of the day, this is a BUSINESS'. And they did the absolute right thing with having Drew sing! The movie would have been dragged if they kept Zac’s original vocals (which aren’t terrible, but can not lead off a franchise musical film)."

And a final X user added: "They made it seem like Zac was making people's ears bleed when he sang!"

As we say, it's not 100% clear if the clip is actually the 'original demo' or not, but HSM director Kenny Ortega did previously shut down the long-standing rumour that Efron did not sing at all in the first film.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ortega was asked: "I understand that Zac was dubbed in the first season?"

"Partially," the director responded. "He sang in the first show. The songs were written before Zac got the role. So although he could sing, and he had a lovely voice, it wasn't the voice that the songs were written for.

"So he sang everything, and then we dubbed parts of it so that it had greater vocal strength. But the second movie and the third movie, everything was written for him. And that's important that people know that Zac Efron did sing."

Tyla has reached out to Disney for comment.