Hayden Panettiere on Her Relationship with 'Smart, Funny' Daughter Kaya, 7: 'She Still Loves Me'

When it comes to her 7-year-old daughter, Hayden Panettiere says the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Oh my gosh, that child came out of me," says the Nashville star, 32, with a laugh. "But she is smarter than me. And she's going to be taller than me!"

These days, her relationship with Kaya is one of Panettiere's greatest joys, especially considering painful moments from her past. In 2018, amidst Panettiere's battle with addiction to alcohol and pills, the actress made the heartbreaking decision for Kaya to go live in Ukraine with boxing champ Wladimir Klitschko, Kaya's father, from whom Panettiere split that year.

"It was the hardest thing I could do," she recalls. "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."

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Thanks in part to intense trauma therapy and inpatient treatment within the last year, Panettiere is sober — and grateful for a happy bond with her daughter, who remains abroad, though not in Ukraine due to upheaval from the war.

"She has a beautiful life," says Panettiere. "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."

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Kaya is also one of the reasons Panettiere is dedicated to her newest mission — Hoplon International, the charity she founded in March to raise money for Ukraine, now in its fifth month of war with Russia.

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"What she's dealing with and what we're all going through right now in regards to Ukraine is really really hard," says Panettiere of Kaya, whose uncle Vitali Klitschko is the mayor of Kyiv. "I had a conversation with her and the only question she had was, 'Why is Putin doing this?' It's so heartbreaking."

With Hoplon, "every penny goes directly to the front lines," says Panettiere. "And [her ex] Wlad and I have been working hand in hand. He and Vitali are on the ground fighting for their country. Every time I hear his voice or get a text from him, it's such a relief."

When it comes to Kaya, "we are fortunate that we can travel a lot," says Panettiere, who is currently shooting the next installment of Scream. "She's a happy kid open to a huge world. And she has more love than anybody I've ever met."

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