‘Dancing With the Stars’: Dylan Efron Reveals Why Brother Zac Efron Has Been Missing From the Ballroom

Dylan Efron’s big brother, Zac Efron, is cheering him on during his Dancing With the Stars run — despite his absence from the ballroom.

Dylan, who is competing alongside partner Daniella Karagach on Season 34 of the ABC dance competition, addressed fans who were looking to see the High School Musical star in the Dancing With the Stars audience during an interview with Extra following Tuesday’s Wicked Night performance.

“Hey, he’s doing his thing,” Dylan, 33, told Extra, adding that while Zac, 38, might not be physically present in the ballroom, he was “supporting me every day.”

Zac might not have made a physical appearance on Dancing With the Stars yet this season, but Dylan gave a nod to his famous brother during last week’s Dedication Night, performing a contemporary routine to “Rewrite the Stars,” a song originally sung by Zac and Zendaya for The Greatest Showman.

Dylan’s routine wasn’t dedicated to his older brother, however, but to his 5-year-old sister Olivia, who joined him on the ballroom floor for part of the dance.

“I’m dedicating this dance to my little sister, Olivia,” Dylan said during his Dedication Night package. “I wasn’t expecting to be a big brother … but immediately, I was inseparable from her.”

The song choice, he confirmed, was “a nod to my brother,” whom he said had always been there for him. “Zac’s always taken care of me and he did things that were so selfless,” Dylan added. “I wanna be that to Olivia, I wanna be the best role model I can.”

Dylan previously told BroBible in 2021 that while he and Zac were “always fighting” with one another as kids, they became “closer than ever” as adults.

“[T]hen once I graduated college, Zac really took me under his wing and let me live with him when I got my first job in Los Angeles,” Dylan said at the time. “He really became that older brother, and that’s when I would say we grew closer than ever. Our relationship was something that developed more as we both became adults and stopped fighting so much.”

Dylan will take to the ballroom again this Tuesday as he and Karagach perform a Halloween Night Viennese waltz to Tommee Profitt and Brooke‘s “Can’t Help Falling In Love (DARK).”

Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on ABC and Disney+, and streams the next day on Hulu.