Hayden Panettiere was an unlikely cheerleader at ringside when Wladimir Klitschko walked to the ring during the peak of his powers – as the pair dated for almost a decade
Hayden Panettiere was an unlikely cheerleader at ringside when Wladimir Klitschko walked to the ring during the peak of his powers.
The Heroes and Nashville star – who tragically died on Monday (August 17), aged 36 – first met the former heavyweight champion of the world at a book launch in 2009. And that chance encounter would lead to a relationship that lasted almost a decade.
After a brief split, with the boxer based in Ukraine and the Hollywood actress across the pond, they rekindled their romance in 2013, quickly became engaged, and welcomed their only daughter, Kaya, in 2014.
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She was the boxer’s No.1 fan – often spotted at ringside cheering him on as he battled some of the greatest heavyweights of all time.
“You know what, I’ve learned that none of my reactions can change what’s gonna happen in the ring,” she joked on LIVE with Kelly and Michael – after becoming aware the camera would often pan over to her for her reactions.
She was there for the icon when he was convincingly defeated by Tyson Fury – with pictures showing the heartbroken former champ being embraced by Panettiere.
Around that time, Panettiere said she dating the “2.0 version” of the Ukrainian and “it wouldn’t shock” her if Klitschko was the father of her future children.
“Motherhood is the most beautiful, exciting thing, and there’s nothing that I feel like I can’t accomplish while having children in my life. I would sacrifice having more years of being wherever I want whenever I want for years with my kids.”
In 2018 they split again; that same year, Panettiere made the “heartbreaking” decision to relinquish full custody of Kaya to Klitschko, due to her struggles with long-term post-partum depression and addiction.
She said: “It wasn’t a decision I made lightly, nor was it a decision I even wanted to make.
“I was going through a really challenging time in my life…I knew I needed to be able to put her first so that I could get the help I needed and be the mom she needed me to be.”
In her memoir, released in May, she remembered how Klitschko had presented her with custody papers while she was visiting him in Kyiv, admitting he was “worried” about Kaya when she was with her.
“Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life, and it’s hard to describe the layers of emotion – including sadness, resentment, and anger – I’ve felt because of it,”
“Trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime, and although I miss Kaya so much my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom.
“She is the greatest gift of my life, with all the best parts of her father and me, and, today, I believe I have the opportunity to be a different kind of parent than most.”
In her final interview before her death, with parenting outlet Mome, she described Kaya as her “mini-me.. And she added: “I love my daughter, and I’m so proud of the young woman she is becoming. I talk to her all the time, and I feel so connected to her.”