Hayden Panettiere Shares Update on Relationship With Daughter Kaya

Hayden Panettiere has given a rare glimpse into her life as a mom. 

In a candid new interview with People, in which she shared her past struggles with alcoholism and an opioid addiction, the Bring It On star also spoke openly about her relationship with her 7-year-old daughter Kaya.

“Oh my gosh, that child came out of me,” Hayden said. “But she is smarter than me. And she’s going to be taller than me!”

In 2018, the 32-year-old made the difficult decision to send her daughter to live in Ukraine with her father, Wladimir Klitschko, amid her battle with addiction. 

“It was the hardest thing I could do,” she recalled. “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.”

While the choice to send Kaya across the world was certainly not easy, Hayden shared that she is now sober and grateful for the bond she has with her daughter today. 

“She has a beautiful life,” the mom said of her daughter, who remains abroad but is no longer in Ukraine due to the ongoing war with Russia. “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.”