Hayden Panettiere has shared that the 'heartbreaking' decision to give up custody of her daughter Kaya was out of her hands.
The Nashville and Bring It On actress got serious about the 'very upsetting' experience of having to let her only child go with her ex partner Wladmir Klitschko.
Hayden, 33, told Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris, and guest host Kelly Osbourne on the latest episode of Red Table Talk that handing over full custody to Wladimir was not up for 'discussion', given her circumstances at the time.
"At first it was not because it wasn't a discussion," Hayden told the Red Table Talk team.
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"If [Wladimir Klitschko] had come to me and said 'I think because of where you're at right now and your struggles that you're having it would be good for her to be over here with me for a while' - which if I had probably had enough of a conversation I would've said 'okay that makes sense, I get it, I'll come there to visit', and stuff like that."
The Scream star continued: "Because of the way that it was done, it was very upsetting," she continued.
"I mean, it was the worst signing those papers, the most heartbreaking thing I've ever, ever had to do in my life."
Hayden clarified that she signed papers to give Wladimir full custody of her daughter, but always thought she'd eventually get shared custody back.
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"I was gonna go work on myself. I was going to get better and when I got better, then things would change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her - but that didn't happen."
In the past, Hayden has spoken about her struggles with addiction at the height of her career.
Back in 2018, she revealed to People that she had had trouble with alcohol abuse and opioid use that stemmed from her early years of fame.
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"As I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without," she had shared.
Hayden's health issues eventually got to a point where doctors told her that her 'liver was going to give out' - a warning that motivated the actress to go to rehab for eight months.
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Hayden and Wladimir, who had been dating since 2009, split up in 2018, which is when conversations about giving up custody of their daughter arose.
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"It was the hardest thing I could do", she told Red Table Talk.
"But the best thing for my daughter was to make sure she was okay, take care of myself and make sure I could be a good mom to her. And sometimes that means letting go."
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