Hayden Panettiere described her and Wladimir Klitschko’s custody arrangement over daughter Kaya — and her “hope” that it will change.
Since the former boxer took full custody of the now 7-year-old in 2018, the little one has “never been back to California,” Panettiere told “Red Table Talk” co-hosts on Wednesday.
The “Remember the Titans” star noted that she “saw” her daughter, who lived in Ukraine until she was “taken elsewhere because it was dangerous” when Russia invaded.
“I’m going there. … I wish there was more to visit her,” said the 33-year-old “Nashville” alum.
However, the actress has “not received any hint” that the current custody situation will change.
“I’ve been told I can always go see her,” the alum “Heroes” explained. “I just have to keep hoping that one day, when she’s old enough to respect her opinion a little more and her wishes are heard, there will be more proactiveness on that side.”
Panettiere described the “heartbreaking” moment when she handed over full custody to her ex-fiancé while Kaya was in Ukraine, saying it was a “shock”.
“She was already there in a country where her uncle is mayor and they are icons there,” Panettiere said of Wladimir and his brother, Vitali Klitschko. “It’s a very male-dominated country, and there wasn’t much I could do.”
Though the Golden Globe nominee considers the athlete a “great father” and thinks he’s “doing the right thing,” Panettiere wants Wladimir to “completely understand” what Kaya’s divorce from her mother will mean in the future.
“Kids need their moms,” the singer told Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris and guest co-host Kelly Osbourne. “I had never endangered her or done anything that would make them never take a child from me in this country.
“It never would have happened,” Panettiere continued. “When she was there, I was stuck between a rock and a hard spot.”
The “Scream 6” star went on to describe the “incredibly strong” daughter of her “stoic” personality and shared her concerns about the “trauma reaction” Kaya recently exhibited.
“Kaya goes around asking other women if she can call them mommy,” said Panettiere, who dated Wladimir occasionally from 2009 to 2018. “That’s a cry for help.”