Hayden Panettiere slammed claims that she \u201cabandoned\u201d her daughter, Kaya, while struggling with addiction and post-partum depression in 2018.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking,\u201d the \u201cHeroes\u201d alum shared on Monday\u2019s episode of the On Purpose podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt couldn\u2019t be further from the truth,\u201d she added. \u201cIt became this horrible cycle for years of battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse and just me trying to find my way back.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panettiere, now 36, explained she \u201ccompletely lost\u201d herself, sharing that her ex-fiance, Wladimir Klitschko, asked for Kaya to live with him full-time in Ukraine at the age of 2.<\/p>\n
\u201cI did not have a good reaction to it,\u201d she admitted. \u201cI went like mother lion. I would\u2019ve burnt the world down for my child. So that was incredibly difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201cBring It On\u201d star shared how Kaya built a \u201cbeautiful life\u201d with friends and by joining extra-curricular activities during their time apart.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo by the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me to and selfish of me to try and pull her out and away from this life that she had created,\u201d Panettiere added, explaining her daughter has learned five languages and enjoys horseback riding.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know in my heart that she feels supported,\u201d the star said. \u201cI have an incredible relationship with her. I go to travel as much as I can to see her. I do spend a lot of time on FaceTime with her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Panettiere gushed over their \u201cintense\u201d and \u201cincredible\u201d bond, stating, \u201cIn no way [does] she feel abandoned.\u201d<\/p>\n
Also in the episode, the \u201cRemember the Titans\u201d star cleared up the misconception that she had been \u201cforced\u201d into treatment, saying she was the one who initially sought help.<\/p>\n
Panettiere and Klitschko started dating in 2009 and were in an on-again, off-again romance leading up to their 2013 engagement.<\/p>\n
The following year, the Scream 4 star announced she and the businessman were expecting their first child together.<\/p>\n
She gave birth to her daughter in December 2014.<\/p>\n
The exes, however, parted ways in August 2018, and the I Love You, Beth Cooper star moved on with her now ex-Brian Hickerson a few months later.<\/p>\n