Hayden Panettiere's Ex-Fiancé Wladimir Klitschko Shocked Over Her Death: 'Nothing Will Erase The Times We Shared'

Actress Hayden Panettiere, best known for her roles in Heroes and Nashville, passed away on Sunday, August 16, 2026, at the age of 36 in Greenville, South Carolina.

Wladimir Klitschko, former heavyweight boxing champion and Panettiere's ex-fiancé took to social media to mourn her death. Both parted ways in 2018. They shared daughter Kaya, born in 2014.

Klitschko paid a heartfelt tribute remembering Hayden Panettiere and promising to keep her memory alive for their daughter.

Wladimir Klitschko's tribute to Hayden Panettiere

Klitschko, who lives in Ukraine, wrote, “Hayden’s tragic death saddens me deeply,” adding, “she left this world far too soon. Hayden was, although no longer my partner, an important part of my life and the mother of our daughter, Kaya. She built an incredible career through immense talent, while also facing the darker sides of a very demanding industry. Nothing will erase the times we shared or the place she had in our lives.”

“To our daughter Kaya. I will always speak of her mother with respect and make sure she remembers the person she was.”

He concluded his note with, “Rest easy, Hayden. May you find eternal peace.”

Wladimir Klitschko and Hayden Panettiere relationship

Klitschko and Panettiere were in an on and off relationship from 2008 to 2018. They were engaged in 2013. Earlier, Panettiere had spoken about her struggles with depression and addiction.

She was given “happy pills” at the age of 15 and started developing drinking habits and also took opioids occasionally.

After the birth of her daughter, Panettiere went through postpartum depression, which she spoke about publicly.

Klitschko and Panettiere split happened after the latter began drinking again. “He didn’t want to be around me,” she said. “I didn’t want to be around me. But with the opiates and alcohol I was doing anything to make me feel happy for a moment. Then I’d feel worse than I did before. I was in a cycle of self-destruction.”

In 2018, she sent Kaya to Ukraine.

“I thought she was going over to visit him like she always did,” the actress said on Red Table Talk in 2022. “[Kaya] would go back and forth from me in Nashville and Ukraine, and then once she was over there, it was immediately, ‘I want full custody of her,’ which was a shock to me.”

“It was very upsetting signing those papers to give him full custody. It was like the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever, ever had to do in my life,” she added.

Even after their separation, they traveled together with their daughter and both supported each other.