Who Is Vanessa Hudgens’ Fiancé? All About MLB Player Cole Tucker

Cole Tucker as a child wearing the Pittsburgh Pirates uniform.

Tucker was born and raised in Phoenix. He attended Mountain Pointe High School where he played on the baseball team and represented Team USA in the 18U Baseball World Cup as a senior.

“He just had that ‘it’ factor with that confidence, self-belief in who he was. No one was going to deny him the opportunity. He would find a way to get it done,” his former high school coach Brandon Buck told AZ Central.

He met Hudgens over Zoom

Cole Tucker and Vanessa Hudgens in 2022.

Hudgens and Tucker first met in a Zoom meditation group during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I get on the Zoom, and I’m like, ‘Who is that?’ ” she said during an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show.

Following their initial encounter, Hudgens shared that she was the one to reach out to the professional athlete.

“I fully just slid into his DMs and was like, ‘Hey, it was nice to meet you.’ So I think there is no shame in making the first move,” she said, adding, “Why wait for someone else to give you what you want?”

He and Hudgens announced their engagement in 2023

Vanessa Hudgens shows off her engagement ring from Cole Tucker in 2022.

Roughly two years after the couple started dating, Tucker popped the question to Hudgens in Paris. The actress announced the news on Instagram in February 2023.

“YES. We couldn’t be happier,” she captioned photos of the two hugging and a closer look at the engagement ring.

“I love it. I get distracted by it all the time,” she told PEOPLE in March 2023.

She also revealed that she was knee-deep in wedding planning and already overwhelmed. “It’s a big daunting thing — so much goes into it,” Hudgens said. “Like Gwen Stefani said, this s— is bananas.”

He is an MLB player

Cole Tucker playing shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Tucker was drafted in the first round by Major League Baseball in 2014. He was the 24th overall pick and joined the roster for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a shortstop from 2014 to 2022. Following his tenure with the Pirates, he quickly joined his home team, the Arizona Diamondbacks, that same year.

“I feel like I experienced so many emotions with the Pirates,” Tucker told AZ Central in June 2022. “I was a 17-year-old high school senior and I got drafted by them, and I got to the big leagues with them, and I had success with them. So many great people there, I’m really humbled for all of it, appreciative of all of it.”

As for his next move, he told the outlet he was “excited to make the most of this opportunity, and excited to be close to the home.”

Tucker didn’t end up playing in the majors for the Diamondbacks partially due to injuries, and in late 2022, he signed minor league deal with the Colorado Rockies. In October 2023, he elected to become a free agent.

Hudgens is his biggest cheerleader

Vanessa Hudgens poses with Cole Tucker at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game.

The Dog Days actress has been known to support her fiancé at his games, including early in their relationship when he was playing for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In August 2023, Hudgens was spotted in the stands for Tucker’s first game with the Colorado Rockies, and cheered him on when he hit a double during his first at-bat.

“I’ve gone to a lot of games, way more than I have in my entire life condensed into a year,” Hudgens told Entertainment Tonight in November 2021. “I love going and supporting and cheering him on.”

His brother is also a baseball player

Cole Tucker with his parents, Erin and Jackie Tucker, and his siblings, Carson and Quinn.

Tucker isn’t the only sibling in his household to play professional baseball: his younger brother, Carson Tucker, was drafted by the Cleveland Guardians in 2020. He was the 23rd overall pick as a shortstop — an event Tucker predicted years before.

“Late night sesh with @DookieTucker29 . Kid never stops working. Little man’s gonna go first round,” he tweeted in 2013 alongside a photo of Carson in a batting cage.

Ahead of his brother’s draft, Tucker opened up about how he was passing on his professional experience.

“Carson Tucker’s my favorite player, and I’m rooting for him and pulling for him and following his every move,” he told MLB.com in June 2020. “I’m just trying to be as much a part of the process as I can and putting my big-brother hat on and also putting my baseball-player hat on.”

Carson now plays for the Lynchburg Hillcats, the Single-A affiliate of the Guardians.

Athleticism runs deep in their family as their mom, Erin Tucker, ran track and played volleyball at the University of Arizona while their dad, Jackie Tucker, played minor league baseball, according to The Athletic.

He was a High School Musical fan long before he met Hudgens

Cole Tucker and Vanessa Hudgens at Netflix’s ‘tick, tick…BOOM!’ New York premiere in November 2021.

Tucker has been a Wildcats fan for over a decade as evidenced by a 2012 tweet. The then-teenager wrote, “In search of: A girl who’s down to watch High School Musical with me and scratch my back.”

He even grew his hair out to be like Corbin Bleu’s character, Chad Danforth, who was a baseball player in the musical series.

“When I was in fourth grade, I was like, ‘Man, I am going to grow out my hair. I’m going to look like Corbin Bleu and it’s going to be the coolest thing ever,’ ” he told The Athletic in March 2020. “I did it and I’m still doing it. I sound like such a nerd right now, but that’s really what happened. It kind of became my thing.”

He helped launch the You Can! Foundation

Vanessa Hudgens and Cole Tucker at the Thomas Ashbourne Margalicious Margarita Dinner in October 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tucker joined his friends and fellow MLB players Cody Bellinger and Jamie Westbrook to create the You Can! Foundation, a program designed to raise money and awareness for mental health and well-being for underprivileged youth.

“[We] were just talking and thinking, ‘Hey, we have this platform, and we have these ideas of what would be cool to help in our backyard and all over the country with things that we care about,’ ” Tucker told MLB.com in September 2021.

“I also think it’s something that pertains to everybody, no matter who you are or what you do,” he added.

His hobbies include playing music and golfing

Trevor Plouffe and Cole Tucker in 2021

In Tucker’s free time, he plays the drums and guitar, often posting photos of his music sessions on Instagram.

While Hudgens doesn’t typically join his sessions, the two have performed together. The duo took to the stage for karaoke night while out with friends, singing Jennifer Lopez and Ja Rule’s 2001 hit, “I’m Real.”

Tucker also enjoys practicing his swing on the golf course and shares snaps of his outings online.
Hudgens plans to take his last name when they get married
During an appearance on Today with Hoda & Jenna, Hudgens revealed that she plans to become “Mrs. T” once she and Tucker tie the knot.

“I’m probably going to take it,” she said, referring to her fiancé’s last name. “Like, professionally it’s obviously going to stay the same.”

Source: people.com