Hayden Panettiere’s death has left fans reeling for the last 24 hours as they mourn the actress’ passing — and now daytime TV host Gayle King is looking back on a deeply emotional interview she conducted with the star just three months before her tragic death.
Panettiere died Sunday, as we’ve been reporting. Her representative was the first to confirm the devastating news on behalf of her father, Alan Panettiere, who remembered his daughter as “an incredible light and a force of nature.” The official cause of death has not yet been determined. Authorities have said there were no initial indications of foul play, while dispatch audio reported on by several outlets referenced a possible overdose and cardiac arrest.
Related: Hayden Panettiere’s ‘Nashville’ Co-Star Connie Britton Reacts To Her Heartbreaking Death
Nevertheless, amid it all, celebs have obviously been reacting with profound grief — and that includes Gayle.
Speaking about the news on CBS Mornings on Monday, King admitted she “felt so, so sad” and reflected on her May conversation with Panettiere — whose memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, detailed her struggles with addiction and alcoholism. King recalled on Monday’s show:
“It was hard when she was here that day [in May].”
King then remembered that Panettiere told her she believed she was in a better place at the time:
“When she was here in the studio that day, and I was talking to her off-camera, she was saying she felt that she was in a good place.”
The actress also opened up about her daughter, 11-year-old Kaya, whom she shares with former fiancé Wladimir Klitschko. Gayle explained:
“Her daughter meant everything to her, and giving up [custody of] her daughter to her dad was one of the hardest things, but she thought that was what was best for her daughter.”
Still, King sensed that Panettiere was continuing to battle painful challenges under the surface, too. Gayle explained her theory on the show on Monday:
“But she was still, clearly still struggling. To wake up to hear this news was really tough. She was so good. She would’ve turned 37 on Friday.”
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So sad…
BTW, during that May interview, Panettiere described herself as the “rawest version” of herself she had ever been and said she was still overwhelmed by the memoir’s subject matter. And now, this. Ugh. This all continues to be just so incredibly awful.
Our thoughts continue to be with Panettiere’s loved ones, especially her daughter, during this devastating time.
The investigation into her death remains ongoing.
