Hayden Panettiere has blasted the idea she "abandoned" her 11-year-old daughter Kaya by giving up custody.
The Heroes star, now 36, has opened up about her decision to sign over custody to her ex-fiancé Wladimir Klitschko in 2018 while she was struggling with postpartum depression and addiction.
Speaking to Jay Shetty on the On Purpose podcast, she said: "The idea that anybody would think that I would just give away my child and be OK with it is heartbreaking.
“It couldn’t be further from the truth.
"It 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.”
Hayden recalled how she had "completely lost” herself at the time, and Wladimir requested that Kaya lived with him in Ukraine full-time from the age of two.
The actress admitted: “I did not have a good reaction to it. I went like mother lion. I would’ve burnt the world down for my child. So that was incredibly difficult.”
Hayden made the "incredibly difficult" decision to seek treatment, and gave up custody.
Over the years, Kaya grew up and built a "beautiful life" with friends of her own.
The Nashville star added: “So 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."
Despite the time apart, Hayden and Kaya have developed an "intense" and "incredible" bond.
She explained: "I know in my heart that she feels supported. I 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.”
Meanwhile, she praised her daughter as an "incredible little girl" who "speaks five languages and rides horses".
She said: "She's got two parents that love her and I know in my heart that she feels supported...
"She is happy and healthy mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. She in no way feels abandoned — and that's something that I've made sure to be stay on top of and be very aware of."
