Zac Efron has addressed speculation that he has undergone plastic surgery after rumours went rampant last year.
In April 2021, images of the actor at an Earth Day event went viral after fans noticed that his jaw appeared dramatically different.
Dubbed "jaw-gate" at the time, followers began to speculate whether he had undergone fillers or other cosmetic procedures.
However, in an interview for the October 2022 issue of Men's Health, the 34-year-old revealed that his altered appearance was actually the result of an injury he sustained after accidentally smacking his chin on the granite corner of a fountain at his house.
"The masseters just grew," he said, referring to the muscles used for chewing. "They just got really, really big."
While the Baywatch star said he works with a specialist to combat the issue, he took some time out from physical therapy while living in Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic.
And though he wasn't aware of "jaw-gate" trending on social media, he was forced to take notice when his mother asked him about the subject.
"If I valued what other people thought of me to the extent that they may think I do, I definitely wouldn't be able to do this work," he noted.
Elsewhere in the conversation, Efron also shared that he no longer abides by a vegan diet as he began to feel nutritionally depleted. He now follows a "protein-heavy plan", he added.
"Morally, of course, I still wish I was vegan."
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