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Hayden Panettiere’s mum 'hopes daughter is at peace' as she opens up in emotional first interview
19 August 2026, 11:30 | Updated: 20 August 2026, 15:20
Lesley Vogel has broken her silence, describing her late daughter Hayden Panettiere as "an amazingly talented person" who "sadly lost her way".
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Hayden Panettiere’s estranged mother has spoken out about her daughter's sudden death for the first time in an emotional new interview.
The Nashville star tragically passed away on 16th August aged 36 after being found "unresponsive" at a property in South Carolina.
Lesley Vogel believes the late Hollywood actress has now been reunited with her younger brother Jansen, who died of heart complications in 2023 aged 28.
As of Sunday, the 70-year-old and her ex-partner Skip Panettiere have sadly lost both their children in unexpected circumstances.
Hoping her kids are 'together in the after-life', she told NBC News: "I just feel that she’s with her brother and they’re at peace."
During a phone call yesterday, the grieving parent described her famous daughter as a "talented person" who "lost her way", hinting at Hayden's struggles with mental health and addiction.
She told reporters: "I think Hayden was an amazingly talented person in so many departments and I think young people who grow up in the entertainment industry — it is a struggle and it’s a very challenging industry and it’s not unusual for them to sadly find the wrong path.
"I think it becomes very difficult to be true to yourself, and I think Hayden sadly lost her way, and I wish it were different.
"I wish she had stayed true to herself because she had many incredible attributes."
- READ MORE: Hayden Panettiere's family release heartbreaking statement after death, aged 36
- READ MORE: Hayden Panettiere’s final post takes on heartbreaking new meaning after her death
As well as paying tribute to her only daughter, Lesley ripped into Hayden's on-off boyfriend Brian Hickerson, who was reportedly at the scene when she died.
Slamming the actor, she fumed: "This person in her life that we have been trying to get rid of for quite some time was with her at her death, and that was Brian Hickerson.
"There is a lot of history in the past that Brian has enabled Hayden many times and this is why her father and I had been concerned for a long time about him."
Brian was arrested multiple times in connection with domestic abuse allegations whilst the pair were dating from 2018 to 2022.
He was ordered to stay away from Hayden for five years due to a restraining order but reports claimed the pair had recently rekindled their relationship.
Interviews following the alleged incidents saw Brian acknowledge the couple's turbulent time together.
One also saw him call Hayden's mother Lesley "by far one of the worst people I’ve ever met in my life".
- READ MORE: Hayden Panettiere’s ex-fiancé breaks silence and makes heartbreaking promise to their daughter
Lesley and Hayden had a complex relationship, too, and hadn't been speaking in recent years.
In May this year, while promoting her memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, the mother-of-one confirmed she hadn't been in contact with her own mum for some time.
Hayden explained: "Unfortunately, we don’t have a relationship right now.
"But that doesn’t mean that I don’t leave the door open for the opportunity to present itself one day. It’s hard for me to say, but I’ve chosen to be brutally honest."
Hayden admitted earlier this year that she found their dynamic difficult, especially when her mother became her manager.
"Everything was business," the former child star confessed.
"I became the confidant and the assistant and the therapist and the shoulder to cry on and everything but her child.
"I said to her, 'I don’t want us to work together anymore. I just want you to be my mom.'
"I remember being hopeful. But I also wasn’t expecting the reaction that I got, which was, 'You owe me.' And that’s all she said. And she walked out."
