Actress Hayden Panettiere revealed the real reason that she gave up custody of her only child and opened up on ‘missing her so much my heart aches’.

The death of the US actress, famed for appearances in the Scream movies as well as Nashville, was confirmed by her representatives on Monday (17 August).

Meanwhile a heartbreaking statement from her father Skip said: “It is with profound sadness that we share the tragic passing of our beloved Hayden.

“She was an incredible light and a force of nature who brought immeasurable love and joy to all who knew her — and to the millions who watched her onscreen.”

No cause of death has yet been officially announced, however TMZ reported that police had been called to an incident involving the actress on Sunday and that there is now an ‘open investigation’.

The 36-year-old began acting as a child, appearing in soap operas before gaining wider recognition for her role in the 2000 sports drama Remember The Titans alongside Denzel Washington, and as the voice of Dot in Pixar’s 1998 film A Bug’s Life.

Panettiere later found fame playing cheerleader Claire Bennet in the superhero drama Heroes before going on to star as up-and-coming country singer Juliette Barnes for six seasons on the hit TV series Nashville.

“I know how blessed I am to be her mom”
However months before her death, she opened up about her life experiences, including battling addiction and postpartum depression, as well as the shock death of her brother and giving up custody of her only daughter, 11-year-old Kaya, to the girl’s father – former heavyweight world champion boxer, Wladimir Klitschko.

She had released a memoir titled This Is Me: A Reckoning, in which she also told of being ‘groomed’ as a child actor.

It was these struggles that the star said helped her make the difficult decision to give up custody of her child who she shares with her former partner and professional boxer Wladimir Klitschko, in 2018.

Panettiere first entered treatment when Kaya was four months old and was diagnosed with postpartum depression, later using alcohol and opioids and having stints in rehab.

Speaking on Jay Shetty’s On Purpose podcast just weeks ago, Panettiere said she was initially against the idea when her ex-partner suggested it.

“That was incredibly difficult. The fact that my child wasn’t going to be with me all day every day was just … you can’t put words to it,” she said.

However, she changed her mind after realising how stressful it was for the youngster to travel back and forth between the US and Ukraine, where she was living her father, and seeing what a ‘beautiful life’ she had out there.

Despite living apart for years, Panettiere wrote that her bond with Kaya remained ‘incredibly strong’ in her honest memoir. In it, she wrote: “Not being under the same roof with her every day has been the most gut-wrenching experience of my life.

“It’s hard to describe the layers of emotion – including sadness, resentment, and anger – I’ve felt because of it.

“I grieve that I’m not the mother I thought I’d be and definitely not the mother I want to be (trust me, no one should ever have to raise a child on FaceTime), and although I miss Kaya so much my heart aches, I know how blessed I am to be her mom.