Hayden Panettiere corrects the circumstances surrounding his decision to grant full custody of his daughter, Kaya, ex Wladimir Klitschko.
“The idea that anyone would think that I could just give up my child and be fine with it is heartbreaking and I can't go on with the truth,” said Panettiere, 36, during a Monday, May 11, appearance on the “On Purpose With Jay Shetty” podcast.
Panettiere welcomed Kaya, now 11, and Klitschko, 50, in December 2014 when she was engaged to the Ukrainian boxing star. However, in 2018, she granted full custody to her ex-husband during her struggle with postpartum depression and addiction.
“I had a mental problem [issues]anxiety, after childbirth [depression] and I have to face it and feel like I'm completely lost,” he said Heroes The actor said at that time in his life. “The wrong idea is that I was forced to be treated, when in fact I was the one who wanted help, I said I really needed help, I know it will look bad, but I can't live like this anymore.”
Panettiere continued, “Even though Vlad didn't understand it, the people around me didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what was going on, they supported me. It was this vicious cycle for many years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and drug abuse and I'm just trying to find a way out of this darkness.”
I Nashville star said that after her breakup with Klitschko, Kaya split her time between the US and Klitschko's native Ukraine, so when Panettiere sought help, Kaya still had strong ties to her father's country.
“I saw that he had been going back and forth for many years … he had spent a lot of time there, with family, with friends, with extracurricular activities,” she said. He had a good life, he understood languages and was beginning to speak them.
“So when I finally got healthy, I felt that it would not be right for me and for myself to try to remove him from this life that he had created,” added Panettiere. “She is an amazing little girl. [She] she speaks five languages and rides horses and knows she has two loving parents. I know in my heart that you feel supported. I have a wonderful relationship with him. I'm leaving [to see her] as much as possible. We have a strong, wonderful relationship, and I'm very grateful for that.”
Hayden Panettiere looks back on her 12-year gap relationship with Heroes costar Milo Ventimiglia, revealing that she considered marrying him before their split. “Every relationship I've ever been in, I've invested in all of them,” Panettie, 36, tells Us Weekly exclusively in this week's cover story while discussing her memoir, This Is Me: […]
Panettiere emphasized that Kaya “doesn't feel abandoned in any way,” saying, “That's something that I've made sure to stay on top of and I'm very aware of.”
“There was a common misconception that I just gave up my baby, when that was not far from the truth,” she said. “I hope it will be a little clearer.”
