Vanessa Hudgens - Not Dropped by Disney

One of the main unanswered questions floating around these past days was - and maybe still is - whether the sexy-cute Vanessa Hudgens will be part of the "High School Musical 3" team - or not. And if you remember the naked photos scandal (it was only about a month ago, I remind you) - which I'm sure you do - you'll understand why people have been making such a big fuss out of this. And over the past days, most media reports indicated Vanessa as a goner, and even named possible substitutes for the 18-year-old actress. But the latest official statement on the matter comes from Vanessa's representative and strongly denies such a thing ever happened.

So the best thing we can say is, Vanessa is still in the running for playing Gabriella Montez in the feature film of High School Musical 3. And while her participation in the third installment of the wildly successful Disney Channel production has not been confirmed either, Vanessa's fans will be happy to know their favorite is still in the cards.

The Disney Channel is known for being quite conservative and intensely family-oriented, and therefore it's pretty natural for them not to be very pleased with Vanessa and the naked pictures of her that were leaked and which burned the Internet about a month ago. And while Disney backed Vanessa throughout the whole scandal, it's still to be seen if she will be allowed to reprise the role of Gabriella after her public image was tainted like that.

Only a couple of days ago, OK! Quoted a Disney insider who claimed that Hudgens was as good as gone. "Disney finally decided that they don't want her back" OK! reported. "They feel that as long as Zac Efron is in the movie, all will be fine. He's the real star - the household name - and, most importantly, he comes without baggage". The same source allegedly reported that Disney was considering Adrienne Baillon and Sabrina Bryan as possible replacements.

But Vanessa's representative firmly denies such a thing happened. "Totally untrue. It's an old rumor" came a statement for JustJared.com. Disney also confirmed that these are just speculations and a decision has not been reached yet. Well, what can we say? Fingers crossed for Vanessa, and looking forward to seeing how this story unfolds. We will, of course, keep you posted on the developments.