Hayden Panettiere says she still has “an incredible relationship with both of them” — her 11-year-old daughter Kaya and Kaya’s father, Wladimir Klitschko. In an interview published May 6, the 36-year-old actress said she and the former heavyweight champion remain close enough to keep co-parenting their child, eight years after she signed over custody to him.
Panettiere said she is “so grateful for Wlad” and described their connection as “a deep friendship, along with a relationship, since I met him when I was 19.” She said she can still see “this bond and the ability to co-parent,” a remark that puts a more settled frame on a relationship that has often been discussed only through its breakup and its legal fallout.
The weight of her comments comes from how far she has come from the worst stretch of her personal life. After splitting from Klitschko in 2018, Panettiere entered rehab on multiple occasions to recover from postpartum depression, alcohol addiction and drug addiction. She has previously described signing over custody of Kaya as “a living nightmare,” and in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, said she takes “full responsibility” for her “shortcomings as a mom.”
That history makes the present-day language notable. Panettiere did not talk around the custody issue or try to recast it as anything other than painful. She said handing over custody was “one of the worst days” of her life, but also said it was important to always put Kaya first. That is the line running through every part of what she said: regret over what happened, and acceptance that her daughter’s well-being had to come before her own wishes.
Panettiere also spoke warmly about the child at the center of the story. Kaya, she said, is “an incredible gift,” “otherworldly and so kind and so fierce and surrounded by good people,” and “the best thing, all the best parts of me and Wlad.” She said Klitschko is “an incredible father” and that she knows he was doing what he felt was best for their daughter.
That is what makes this update matter now. Kaya is 11, and Panettiere’s remarks suggest the custody arrangement that once carried so much pain has not cut the family apart. Instead, she says, the relationship with Klitschko has held together in a way that allows both parents to remain present in their daughter’s life. The unanswered question is no longer whether the former couple can coexist; Panettiere’s own words say they already are.
