Hayden Panettiere May Relapse After Brother's Tragic Death, Friends Fear

Hayden Panettiere's inner circle is fearing for her sobriety in the wake of her younger brother's sudden death.

Insiders close to the Nashville star told Radar the shock of losing her 28-year-old sibling, Jansen, on February 19 from an enlarged heart, has thrown Panettiere into such emotional turmoil she may be in danger of relapsing on booze and pills to sedate her grief.

"Hayden is inconsolable," a source close to the former child star explained. "Jansen wasn't just her brother. He was her confidant and best friend. They had both been burned by Hollywood and shared the experiences with each other."

A second insider emphasized how the people closest to Panettiere are worried the tragedy will "undo all the hard work she put into her sobriety."

Last year, the Heroes alum opened up about her hard-fought battle with addiction to alcohol and prescription pills. "This hasn't been easy and there were a lot of ups and downs," Panettiere admitted in a 2022 interview. "But I don't regret even the ugliest things that have happened to me. I feel incredibly accomplished. And I feel like I have a second chance."

"They were to make me peppy during interviews," she said. "I had no idea that this was not an appropriate thing, or what door that would open for me when it came to my addiction."

Panettiere's steady stream of work allowed her to curb her vices during busy periods. However, during her time off, her addiction worsened. "My saving grace is that I couldn't be messy while on set and working," the Tiger Cruise actress, who shares with 8-year-old daughter, Kaya, ex Wladimir Klitschko, noted at the time. "But things kept getting out of control [off set]. And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn't live without."

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"Doctors told me my liver was going to give out," she remembered the high stakes of not getting sober. "I was no longer a 20-year-old who could just bounce right back. It's an everyday choice, and I'm checking in with myself all the time."