Hayden Panettiere’s mum Lesley Vogel speaks out about late actress in first TV interview since her death

Hayden Panettiere’s mother has opened up about her estranged daughter during her first TV interview since the late star’s death earlier this month.

The 36-year-old actress, known for her roles in Heroes, Nashville and Ice Princess, died on August 16 after she was found unresponsive and in cardiac arrest at a residence in Greenville, South Carolina.

First responders attempted to resuscitate her, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her mother, Lesley Vogel, has appeared on TV for the first time since her second child’s death, telling ABC News she felt “numb” the moment she found out.

“I was numb. I just couldn’t feel anything. I am still not grasping this is real; it doesn’t feel real. My mind tells me it’s not; at times, it’s going to be a process,” she said.

“I think it will probably hit me later on, but I would say to the haters out there you don’t have a right to tell me how I mourn the loss of my second child; that’s my domain.”

Panettiere’s parents, who divorced when she was young, lost their son Jansen in 2023 at the age of 28. The family said in a statement at the time that he died from an enlarged heart.

Vogel said she is focusing on finding her “inner strength” as she comes to terms with another family tragedy.

“I have been knocked down throughout my life, and I’m not complaining because I have the strength to get back up and it’s not how we fall; it’s how we get back up that defines who we are,” she said.

Vogel and Panettiere were estranged in the actor’s final months, a separation that Vogel said came about after she went to stay with her daughter about a year ago.

Vogel said Panettiere at that time wanted to get out of her relationship with Brian Hickerson, who she’d been dating on and off since 2018.

“She knew Brian was toxic, she knew she had to get him out of her life,” Vogel said.

“When I got the phone call from her saying ‘I’m going to be with the person I love’ I just lost it . . . I could not believe she had gone that far back, he had been successful in reeling her back in with all of the things he’d done to her.”

Panettiere’s relationship with Hickerson was marred by several domestic violence claims and arrests. He pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend in April 2021.