Inside Hayden Panettiere & Wladimir Klitschko's Bond Before Her Death

Panettiere died in Greenville, South Carolina, after going into cardiac arrest, the Greenville County Coroner’s Office shared in an Aug. 17 release. 

In audio of the emergency dispatch call obtained by TMZ, responders can be heard discussing an apparent overdose. However, the coroner’s office noted the 36-year-old’s cause and manner of death is pending further investigation, adding "no signs of trauma were discovered that would have contributed to the death."

And while Klitschko was one of many to pay tribute to Panettiere, their bond had endured many rounds with Panettiere first climbing into his ring, so to speak, nearly two decades ago.

When Did Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko Start Dating?

Panettiere met Klitschko in 2009 after she ran into him (almost literally) at a party in Beverly Hills. 

"I jumped back and looked up toward a broad face with a jawline that could have been chiseled out of marble,” she recalled in her 2026 memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning. "'Oh my God!’ I said. 'You are huge!'" To which he replied, "'And you are tiny.'"

However, they developed a big love. A first date at L.A.’s Magic Castle lead to years of long distance, on and off-dating and finally a 2013 proposal over Skype. The next year, they found out they were expecting a baby, welcoming daughter Kaya that December.

When Did Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko Break Up?

After enduring a traumatic delivery that involved a C-section, three-hour surgery and seven blood transfusions, the complications piled up for Panettiere. As she struggled to deal with postpartum depression, she began to self-medicate with alcohol.

Over the next few years, Panettiere sought treatment as she navigated mental health struggles, raising Kaya with Klitschko across two continents and both of their careers. But when Kaya was about 3, they split.

"I prefer big, explosive breakups rather than slow, painful fizzles, but Wlad’s nature was to take a struggle all the way to the twelfth round," Panettiere wrote. "It was what it was, and there was nothing I could do. I told myself a broken family was better than no family at all."

What Did Hayden Panettiere Say About Wladimir Klitschko Getting Custody of Daughter Kaya?

"No mother could forget a single thing about the day she signed her child away," Panettiere wrote of making the painful decision to give Klitschko full custody, their daughter residing with him in Ukraine since 2018.

While the Nashville star noted she'd considered suing, she also acknowledged she was early in her recovery and didn’t want Kaya to live in the public eye or in the middle of a legal battle. Still, she called living apart "the most gut-wrenching experience of my life."

And after Panettiere completed eight months of treatment in 2021, she didn’t want to take Kaya out of her world.

"By the time I finally got healthy, I felt like it would have been unfair of me and selfish of me to try to pull her out away from this life that she had created," Panettiere said on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast in May. "She was living an incredible life. She’s an incredible little girl."

Knowing "she’s got two parents that love her," Panettiere, who visited and FaceTimed Kaya, continued, "I know in my heart that she feels supported. I have an incredible relationship with her."

What Had Hayden Panettiere Said About Her Relationship With Ex Wladimir Klitschko Before Her Death?

Even more importantly, she told E! News in May, “He’s the father of my daughter. I want him to be Superman in her eyes, and he’s an amazing human being."

 To see photos Panettiere had shared of her and Kaya throughout the years, read on.