Vanessa Hudgens Says Her Dad Has Stage 4 Cancer at Industry Dance Awards

Vanessa Hudgens opened up about her father's stage 4 cancer diagnosis while accepting an award at the Industry Dance Awards on Wednesday in Los Angeles. She also spoke about the death of the mother of her boyfriend, actor Austin Butler, to cancer.

"Last year, my boyfriend, Austin, lost his mom, Lori, to cancer, and my dad has just been recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer," Hudgens said. "Let me tell you, I hate cancer. I hate cancer with every cell of my being."

This is the first time Hudgens has publicly spoken about her father's diagnosis. A few weeks ago she posted a photo on Instagram of her and her father, Greg, asking her followers to "pray for his healing," but did not say what he was suffering from at the time.

Hudgens was accepting the award for Breakthrough Performer, following her Broadway debut in the title role of Gigi. The awards show benefits The Circle of Hope, a charity that supports dancers with cancer. Next up, Hudgens will be portraying Rizzo in the live TV musical of Grease.

Hudgens attended the awards with boyfriend Butler, who she's been dating since 2011. The couple appears to be closer than ever. Last week, they celebrated Butler's 24^th birthday at Disneyland and were all smiles all day in the happiest place on earth.

It's good news for the happy couple, but less so for Hudgens' ex and High School Musical co-star, Zac Efron. At the Industry Dance Awards, Hudgens skipped a question about Efron. She was asked if she had spoken to him lately and responded with a laugh and a simple "Next question."

Kenny Ortega, the director of High School Musical, presented the Industry Dance Award to Hudgens, which made the event extra special for her.

"It just really shows sometimes you meet people and they're just kind of always there for you and that's really special, especially in this industry," Hudgens said.

 My daddy and I Please pray for his healing!!! The more prayers the better.

A photo posted by Vanessa Hudgens (@vanessahudgens) on Jul 27, 2015 at 10:06am PDT