![\"051226_neff_at_noon_brian_hickerson_v2_web_marriage_kal\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/df36c37675bc47719c8420d9fa4ed2d5_md.png\")
<\/p>\n Hayden Panettiere’s Ex
\n Hoping for a Hollywood Rewrite
\n … Still Wishes to Marry Her<\/p>\n
\n Published
\n May 13, 2026
\n 1:00 AM PDT
\n |
\n Updated
\n May 13, 2026
\n 5:19 AM PDT\n <\/p>\n
Play video content<\/p>\n
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Hayden Panettiere<\/a>‘s ex Brian Hickerson<\/a> says he still dreams about a future with the actress … admitting he would even marry her, despite their rocky past.<\/p>\n Hickerson sat down with TMZ’s Charlie Neff ahead of Hayden’s upcoming memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning” … and got surprisingly emotional when the conversation turned to the former couple’s relationship.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n When Charlie asked if he ever thinks about marrying the former “Nashville” actress one day, Brian didn\u2019t hold back … “Yeah, of course.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n It sounds like he’s still holding onto hope there could someday be another chapter for them … because when asked if he still thinks that could happen, he said … “I hope so — she probably doesn’t think the same way.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The interview took a more reflective turn when Brian explained why he believes the two may ultimately be better apart.<\/p>\n “I think that Hayden is one of the most talented people I\u2019ve ever met in my life, and I would be an idiot not to walk away from her and let her flourish in her career,” he said. “So, we probably wouldn\u2019t be good together.”<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The former couple was photographed together at an airport back in March<\/a> — sparking speculation they may have rekindled things — though Brian described their relationship now as more of a friendship built on mutual respect. But it\u2019s obvious the feelings haven\u2019t gone away ’cause Brian said bluntly, “I miss Hayden every day.”<\/p>\n Still, Brian also admitted he has major regrets<\/a> about how their relationship unfolded … saying he went into “such a dark place” involving drugs and alcohol during their time together. The exes dated on and off from 2018 to 2022 … before their relationship spiraled into legal drama — with Brian pleading no contest to felony domestic violence charges and receiving jail time, probation and a five-year restraining order.<\/p>\n Be sure to check out Charlie\u2019s full interview with Brian … where he opens up about everything from his feelings about being in her memoir to his thoughts on her ex-fianc\u00e9 and daughter’s father, Wladimir Klitschko<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hayden Panettiere’s Ex Hoping for a Hollywood Rewrite … Still Wishes to Marry Her Published May 13, 2026…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-425668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425668","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425668"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425668\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"sub-hayden-panettiere-splash-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/94a5d54cf9ca4be59d93f2fb8db7db56_md.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Hayden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/eb4deb03700640bcb5af280f6e0b3037_md.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"brian-hickerson-Hayden-Panettiere-getty-1\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/7e4b7d13696b4fce8b0309687def456a_md.jpg\")
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