Hayden Panettiere Comes Out As Bisexual In New Memoir

Featured Image: Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images

Remember when you watched Bring It On: All Or Nothing for the first time and crushed on Britney, the hot blonde cheerleader? Well, I have good news: the actress who played her, Hayden Panettiere, just revealed she is indeed for the girls. 

In her upcoming memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, out on May 19, Panettiere gets vulnerable while describing her coming-out journey. 

The memoir also explores her tumultuous past relationships with Heroes co-star and boyfriend, Milo Ventimiglia; ex-fiancé and father of her daughter, former World Champion boxer, Wladimir Klitschko; and her abusive on-again, off-again romance with Brian Hickerson.

Moreover, it touches on the bullying she faced as a teen star and her struggles with addiction.      

In an interview with US Weekly, the Golden Globe nominee mentioned that she’s always dated women and was “much more into women even as a child than I was men,” but she didn’t “have the courage to throw myself fully emotionally into it. Because then if I did fall in love, that wasn’t something that I wanted to ever have to hide.” 

Her time spent exploring her sexuality was limited and quite terrifying, “because there were paparazzi always waiting for me outside, to follow me everywhere. I had very little privacy.”    

It never felt like the right time for Panettiere to tell the world she’s into women. “It was either I was too young, and I was being forced to be perfect at all times. I was not encouraged to just be myself.”

She continued: “Then came the period where it felt like people coming out, especially women, saying that they were bisexual or liked girls, was a fad. I was afraid that if I was honest, it was going to be like me jumping on the bandwagon…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?” 

Exactly queen. In fact, it’s never too late—and the community is more than pleased to welcome you.

The actress emphasized the importance of radical acceptance when opening up about her substance abuse issues and postpartum depression.

“Even though it takes patience and you hit walls, and there’s nothing about it that’s easy, it is so worth it. There’s no drug in the world that can recreate the feeling of genuine health and happiness and contentment, being content.” 

Panettiere is now focusing on continuing her healing journey and future aspirations possibly coming into fruition.