Hayden Panettiere's body was 'bloated' after his brother's death

Hayden Panettiere talks about the loss of her younger brother Jansen.

“He was my only brother and it was my job to protect him,” the 35-year-old said in an interview with People published on Wednesday. “When I lost him, it felt like I had lost half of my soul.”

Jansen's death occurred shortly after Panettiere entered rehab in 2020 and ended an abusive relationship with ex-boyfriend Brian Hickerson.

The “Amber Alert” star had even started acting again after her brother died suddenly of an undiagnosed heart condition at the age of 28, three weeks before the premiere of “Scream 6” in February 2023.

The former actress from “Girls United: All or Nothing” did not leave her house after Jansen’s death, mainly because photographers followed her in the days following the tragedy.

“I had to look at horrific paparazzi photos of myself coming out of Jansen's funeral, which was in a very private place, and it was shocking,” Panettiere said. “My agoraphobia came out, which I've struggled with in the past.”

Within days, her grief manifested itself in a physical reaction to the shock, and Panettiere reported that she was virtually unrecognizable. “I'm just bloated,” she said of the rapid weight gain she experienced.

Panettiere noted that “stress and cortisol” in her body caused the sudden change that lowered her self-esteem. “I didn't feel confident enough to get dressed and get out of the house, but I also knew I had to get out and keep moving or I would never stop looking and feeling that way.”

She added: “It became a destructive hamster wheel of asking: Do I feel good enough to go out?”

Panettiere got in touch with personal trainer Marnie Alton through her publicist and slowly started training again.

The two shared a personal connection: Panettiere told the fitness guru stories from the past on long walks.

“Those long, beautiful walks where we could let off steam and those therapy sessions,” Panettiere told the outlet. “Marnie gave me strength.”

And in addition to the open dialogue, the endorphins that Panettiere got from burning fat also lifted her mood.

“My body just started responding, not just from training. It allowed me to release the stress, the high expectations I had always placed on myself,” she said.

As her confidence grew, her agoraphobia disappeared. “There's nothing better than looking in the mirror and feeling like you look good enough to walk out the door,” Panettiere admitted.

While she is currently still struggling with Jansen's death, the “Nashville” veteran has also gained a new perspective after the loss.

“When something this big happens to you, you learn to pick your battles and not let the little things get you down,” Panettiere said. “Because once something this terrible, this deep, this catastrophic happens to you, there's not much that can really shake you.”

The “Heroes” star is grateful that she now feels more like herself again and is looking forward to the release of her new film “Amber Alert,” which hits theaters on September 27. But the trauma of Jansen's death will stay with her for a long time.

“It will always break my heart. I will never get over it,” Panettiere admitted. “No matter how many years go by, I will never get over his loss.”