Hayden Panettiere talks about battle with opioid and alcohol addiction

Hayden Panettiere opens up for the first time about a secret addiction to opioids and alcohol…says it has taken a huge toll on her life and career.

The “Nashville” star, in an interview on “Good Morning America,” says she struggled with substance abuse as well as a battle with postpartum depression after her 7-year-old daughter, Kaya, said, “I was on top of the world and I ruined it”.

Hayden says at one point her addiction to alcohol got so bad that she was hospitalized and suffered from jaundice, and doctors warned her liver would fail. Now, she says, trauma therapy and clinical treatment over the past year have brought her to a place of calm… but it takes a lot of work.

As a youth star, she says someone on her team gave her “happy pills” before she hit the red carpet. I had no idea this wasn’t appropriate, or what door it would open for me when it came to my addiction.”

She says that as the addiction got worse, she had a place of sobriety: “My saving grace is I couldn’t be messy while I was on set and working… But it kept getting out of hand.” [off set]† And as I got older, the drugs and alcohol became something I almost couldn’t live without.”

The last time we saw Hayden, she was in an argument with her boyfriend Brian Hickerson in March. Now she seems to be better than ever, happy to be given a second chance.