Hayden Panettiere reveals why daughter Kaya calls her by a different name amid abandonment rumors

Hayden Panettiere reveals why daughter Kaya calls her by a different name amid abandonment rumors

Bring on the nicknames.

Hayden Panettiere’s 11-year-old daughter, Kaya, calls her mom “Britney” after one of the actress’ iconic roles, she revealed Monday on “CBS Mornings.”

The first time the preteen did so, “it took [Panettiere] a second” to figure out Kaya was referencing her “Bring It On” character, Britney Allen.

Hayden Panettiere’s daughter, Kaya, calls her “Britney” over the actress’ “Bring It On” role. CBS
The Golden Globe nominee shared the anecdote on “CBS Mornings” Monday. CBS

“I realized she was talking about ‘Bring It On’ because her friends are fans of ‘Bring It On,’” the “Nashville” alum, 36, told Gayle King.

“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh!’” Panettiere recalled, before gushing that Kaya now wants her to “Zoom with her friends.”

The Golden Globe nominee quipped, “I’m cool now!”

Panettiere shared the anecdote while describing her “great relationship” with Kaya, who lives in Ukraine with her dad — and Panettiere’s ex-fiancé — Wladimir Klitschko.

The “Nashville” alum revealed she Zooms with her 11-year-old’s friends and is considered “cool now.” CBS
“Her friends are fans of ‘Bring It On,’” Panettiere (pictured above in September 2024) said. GC Images

“I fly over there as much as I can,” the “Heroes” alum clarified. “I’m on FaceTime with her all the time. She’s now 11 years old, and she’s calling Mommy more and more.”

Last week, Panettiere clapped back at rumors she “abandoned” the little one during an emotional episode of Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast.

Panettiere relinquished custody of Kaya in 2018.

The former soap star insisted the narrative that she “would just give away [her] child and be OK with it is heartbreaking” and “couldn’t be further from the truth.”

Additionally, the “Heroes” alum (pictured above in March 2023) discussed her “great relationship” with the preteen. ABC via Getty Images
Panettiere did so on last week’s “On Purpose” podcast as well, denying she was “OK” with relinquishing custody of Kaya in 2018. Jay Shetty Podcast

Panettiere noted that Kaya moving to Ukraine was an “incredibly difficult” experience that she “did not have a good reaction to.”

She remembered, “I went like mother lion. I would’ve burnt the world down for my child.”

However, the “Ice Princess” star was in a “horrible cycle” of “battling depression and anxiety and alcoholism and substance abuse” at the time — and Kaya had a “beautiful life” abroad by the time her mom “finally got healthy.”

Panettiere explained, “I felt like it would have been unfair of me to and selfish of me to try and pull her out and away from this life that she had created. … I know in my heart that she feels supported. I have an incredible relationship with her.”

Panettiere (pictured above in March 2023) described herself as a “mother lion” looking back at the “very difficult” decision. Getty Images
She discusses motherhood, addiction and more in her “This Is Me: A Reckoning” memoir, out Tuesday.

Elsewhere in the interview, Panettiere discussed other vulnerable topics in her “This Is Me: A Reckoning” memoir, including being forced into bed with an “undressed” and “very famous” man at 18.

The “Scream” star’s book, out Tuesday, includes other headline-making revelations, from her “uncomfortable” age-gap romance with Milo Ventimiglia to her bisexuality.

Her estranged mom, Lesley Vogel, shaded the latter, telling Page Six, “There is no historic proof that this is the case. I do think the timing of this coming out is very interesting.”

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