Hayden Panettiere says daughter Kaya 'still loves' her following battle with addiction

Hayden Panettiere has revealed that she has a good relationship with her daughter Kaya, following her years-long addiction to opioids and alcohol. 

The Nashville star, 32, whose 7-year-old daughter lives with ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko, 46, said that Kaya ‘still loves’ in a recent interview with People magazine. 

‘She has a beautiful life. I was just with her. She’s just an amazing child. She’s smart and she’s funny and for whatever reason, she still loves me,’ the actress said. 

The decision to have Kaya live with Klitschko came as the star battled with an addiction to alcohol and pills. 

‘It was the hardest thing I could do,’ the New York native said regarding Kaya’s move abroad.  

‘But the best thing for my daughter was to make sure she was OK, take care of myself and make sure I could be a good mom to her. And sometimes that means letting go,’ she added. 

The mother-of-one opened up about her lengthy addiction struggles in the interview, revealing that her drug abuse began when she was just 15 years old – and then spiraled out of control while she was battling postpartum depression after the birth of Kaya in December 2014.

She revealed that her struggle with postpartum depression combined with her reliance on drugs and alcohol resulted in her making the ‘heartbreaking’ decision to send her daughter away to live with her father in Ukraine.

Panettiere says she did not drink while she was pregnant with Kaya, but she admits that she fell off the wagon soon after her daughter was born, and from there, her alcohol issues continued to spiral out of control. 

After she sent her daughter away to live with the former professional boxer, from whom she had split just months before in 2018, following a nine-year on-off relationship, Panettiere’s drinking continued to worsen – to the point where she had to be hospitalized with jaundice.

After Panettiere ended up in the hospital, she finally found the strength to seek treatment for her addictions and ultimately entered rehab for eight months, where she says she found the support she needed to face her demons head-on. 

Speaking to Good Morning America on Wednesday, the actress insisted that Kaya – who was last known to be living in the currently war-torn Ukraine – is ‘very safe where she is’ and ‘has a lot of friends.’ 

‘She’s my favorite little person,’ she said, adding. ‘And watching how she has handled this whole Ukrainian situation has really blown my mind.’