Hayden Panettiere's former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko issues heartfelt message in birthday tribute to late actress

Wladimir Klitschko has thanked people for their 'incredible outpouring of love and support' following Hayden Panettiere's passing on what would have been the Nashville star's 37th birthday.

Klitschko and Panettiere dated on-and-off between 2009 and 2018. During this time, they got engaged and welcomed their daughter Kaya into the world.

Ultimately, Panettiere went on to give her ex full custody of their child after he asked that Kaya move to Ukraine. The actress said that while it was an 'incredibly difficult' thing to do, she knew that Kaya went on to build a 'beautiful life' with her dad in Eastern Europe.

Following Panettiere's death on August 16, Klitschko paid tribute to his ex on social media and described her as 'an important part of my life'.

Now the retired boxer has issued a new statement on what would have been the Heroes actress' 37th birthday today (August 21).

"Today is Hayden’s birthday. Instead of celebrating the way we had planned, today we celebrate her life, her spirit, and the love she brought into this world," his moving message began.

"I want to thank all of Hayden’s fans, friends, and everyone who has reached out for the incredible outpouring of love and support. At a time filled with so much sadness, your kindness has reminded me that there is still so much good in humanity."

Klitschko continued: "If you’re reading this, I ask just one thing: even if only for a moment, think about LOVE. Reach out to a friend. Forgive someone. Be kind. Love is a superpower. Use it."

The dad-of-one concluded his tribute to Panettiere: "Happy Birthday, Hayden. You are loved, you are missed, and you will never be forgotten."

Panettiere shared some details on their early days of her relationship with Klitschko in her memoir, titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, that was released earlier this year. The pair first met 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. "'Oh my God!' I said. 'You are huge!'"

Klitschko, who is 6ft 6, replied by telling Panettiere that she was 'tiny'.

Elsewhere, she discussed their decision to end their romance after the best part of a decade.

Panettiere wrote: "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.

"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."

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence, contact GrieveWell on (734) 975-0238, or email [email protected].

A timeline of Hayden Panettiere’s troubled Hollywood career

August 1989

Hayden Panettiere is born to firefighter Skip Panettiere and Lesley Vogel, who would go on to be Hayden’s manager.

1990

Panettiere appears in a commercial at 11 months old, later landing recurring roles in soap operas as a child actor.

2004/2005

Aged 15, Panettiere said someone on her team started offering her ‘happy pills’. She later tells People: “They were to make me peppy during interviews.

"I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction.”

2006

Aged 17, Panettiere lands one of the defining roles of her career as Claire Bennett in Heroes.

2007-2009

Panettiere later reveals several disturbing incidents that happened during this period in her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning.

Aged 18, she claims she was led onto a yacht by ‘somebody that I had grown to trust and see as a protector’ and placed into bed next to an ‘undressed man who was very famous’.

In 2008, she alleged a network executive kissed her on the lips at a party.

Aged 19, she said a ‘well-respected, award-winning actor’ tricked her into looking at his testicles through an unzipped fly.

In 2007, she also starts dating Heroes co-star Milo Ventimiglia - she is 18 and he is 30. They split in 2009.

2009

Panettiere starts dating Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko.

Meanwhile, her father Skip is handed two years of informal probation after pleading ‘no contest’ to spousal battery.

2013

Panettiere and Klitschko get engaged.

December 2014

Panettiere and Klitschko’s daughter Kaya is born. Panettiere endures an incredibly difficult pregnancy, hemorrhaging during her c-section and being forced to undergo a three-hour surgery.

2015

Panettiere begins suffering severe post-partum depression. She later tells Jay Shetty on his On Purpose podcast: “I knew something was terribly, terribly wrong. I wasn't connecting with [Kaya] the way I should be.”

She uses alcohol to manage her mental health struggles and enters treatment when Kaya is four months old.

She later says she became dependent on medication to sleep, and then turned to drinking vodka.

2018

Klitschko presents Panettiere with custody papers asking for full custody of Kaya. After initially fighting back, she eventually accepts and Kaya goes to live with Klitschko in Ukraine.

She writes in her memoir: “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life.”

Meanwhile, her long-running role in TV show Nashville comes to an end and she doesn’t have any more TV or film roles for five years.

In the same year, she starts dating actor Brian Hickerson.

2020

Panettiere spends an eight month stint in rehab.

She experiences brutal alcohol withdrawal symptoms including insomnia and intense headaches.

Meanwhile, her now-ex Hickerson is charged with felony assault.

2021

Hickerson pleads no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse/cohabitant/girlfriend/child's parent and is sentenced to 45 days in jail and four years probation.

2023

Panettiere returns to acting, reprising her role as Kirby Reed in Scream VI.

In the same year, her brother Jansen dies aged 28 from an enlarged heart.

May 2026

Panettiere releases her memoir in which she makes disturbing allegations against film stars and industry execs from when she was a teenager.

She also opens up on her experience of postpartum depression and comes out as bisexual.

August 2026

Panettiere tragically dies. Police say: “The preliminary investigation has not indicated any signs of foul play or suspicious circumstances.”