Hayden Panettiere is looking back on her former relationship with Milo Ventimiglia with a new level of honesty.
The actress, 36, opened up about dating her “Heroes” co-star while promoting her upcoming memoir, “This Is Me: A Reckoning,” which is set to be released May 12. Panettiere was 18 when she dated Ventimiglia, who was 29 at the time, and she shared that the relationship felt serious to her.
“Every relationship I’ve ever been in, I invested my whole self in,” Panettiere told Us Weekly. “I saw him as my partner and that it was going to hopefully keep going and evolving and lead to marriage.”
The pair dated from 2007 to 2009 after meeting on the NBC superhero drama, and Panettiere said one of the biggest challenges between them came down to emotional expression.
Why Saying “I Love You” Became Difficult
Panettiere admitted that she struggled to say “I love you” to Ventimiglia in a deeper way during their romance.
She said she “was unable” to put the “I” in front of “love you,” explaining that she could only say it casually. At the time, she did not fully understand why the words made her feel so uncomfortable.
“I could only say ‘love you’ in a casual way,” she said, adding that Ventimiglia being older meant he was “more aware” of what that meant. “And that said a lot.”
Panettiere also reflected on one of their breakups, recalling how hard it hit her when Ventimiglia initially ended the relationship. She said the split felt sudden because there had not been a major explosive moment between them.
“Nothing that big or explosive had happened,” she said. “Nothing had really gone wrong. Nobody cheated.”
According to Panettiere, Ventimiglia briefly took her back after seeing how emotional she became.
“One hundred percent it was only because I was over the toilet, hysterically crying,” she said, adding that it felt like her “world had crumbled.”
Still, Panettiere’s comments come from a reflective place, with the actress looking back on the relationship as part of her larger journey. Ventimiglia also previously spoke about their past in a 2017 interview, saying he “wouldn’t change a thing” because it gave him “perspective.”
Where Hayden Panettiere Stands Today
Since the end of that relationship, both stars have moved forward in their personal lives. Ventimiglia is now married to model Jarah Mariano, and the couple share a young daughter.
Panettiere later dated Ukrainian boxer Wladimir Klitschko from 2009 to 2018. The former couple share an 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, and Panettiere said she now has a strong relationship with both of them.
“I have an incredible relationship with both of them,” she told Us Weekly, adding that she and Klitschko have been able to co-parent with love and stability. She described Kaya as “otherworldly and so kind and so fierce.”
The actress also used the interview to share more about her personal identity, publicly coming out as bisexual.
“It’s sad I had to wait until I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?” she said. “I’m comfortable to confidently say that yes, I am bisexual. I said it!”
While Panettiere’s memoir revisits painful chapters, including past relationships and personal struggles, her latest reflections show someone speaking from a place of growth, honesty and self-understanding.
“I have an incredible relationship with both of them,” she said.
