Months before her death, Hayden Panettiere opened up about an abusive relationship and the years she spent trying to break free from the cycle.
During a May 2026 episode of Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast, the actress reflected on an abusive relationship without naming the person she was referring to. However, her comments appeared to reference her former partner Brian Hickerson, whom she dated from 2018 to 2022 and whose relationship with Panettiere has been the subject of documented domestic violence cases.
“I found myself in a terrible position,” she said. “The abuse, the fact that I allowed this person not only into my life, but for how long I put up with it.”
Through therapy and self-reflection, Panettiere said she began to understand why she had remained in the relationship.
“I realized that I was more afraid of being alone than being abused,” she explained.
Panettiere described the abuse as a cycle that was difficult to escape. She said the physical abuse could seemingly happen without warning, particularly when her partner was drinking, and compared his sudden changes in behavior to a “Dr. Jekyll Mr. Hyde situation.”
“We could be dancing and joking, and then a switch would flip and suddenly it was on,” she said. “Something would snap and it was like watching a predator suddenly smell blood.”
Panettiere said she tried different ways of dealing with the situation, including attempting to calm him down, standing her ground and hiding until he was sober. Once he was sober, she said, his behavior would change again.
“He was devastated and apologetic and it seemed so honest and genuine that I was torn,” Panettiere recalled, also admitting that she wanted to “fix” him. She eventually realized that staying in the relationship was affecting not only her but also the people who loved her. She also revealed that her ex went to jail and that authorities became involved, but said he later found a way back into her life before she was able to get away again.
Panettiere declined to share every detail of what happened but warned people not to assume they know the full story based on what they see publicly.
“Don’t believe just what you see in a picture,” she said. “There is so much more going on, so much more going on. Truth is stranger than fiction.”
After finally sharing her story in her own words, Panettiere said she felt a sense of relief.
“In this moment, I feel more trust in myself than I have in years,” she said. “So I got a little bit of me back just now.”
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