Where’s Brian Hickerson Now After Hayden Panettiere’s Death?

Hayden Panettiere reportedly rekindled things with her on-again, off-again boyfriend Brian Hickerson shortly before her death. According to Page Six, the Nashville actress kept some of her close friends  “in the dark” about her alleged reunion with Hickerson.

“If Brian was back in her life, then it was something she was hiding because she wasn’t speaking about it with many of her friends,” a source told the outlet. “If you’ve gone through some dark times with people, and spoken about it, then there can be shame if you get back together with that same person. So maybe that was why she hadn’t mentioned it to us.”

The pair fueled reconciliation rumors in March 2026 when they were seen together at a Los Angeles airport. At the time, Panettiere was on crutches and told paparazzi via TMZ that she had a pinched nerve in her back.

A separate source told TMZ that Panettiere and Hickerson were officially in a relationship while she was promoting her 2026 memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning. However, they were forced to keep their romance under wraps because Panettiere’s team felt Hickerson was “bad for business,” since a few chapters detail their alleged abusive relationship.

This Is Me: A Reckoning

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“In this memoir, Hayden shares a rare and intimate glimpse into her life behind closed doors, opening up about postpartum depression, addiction and recovery, trauma, domestic abuse, and loss.”

Hickerson was also with Panettiere at the time of her tragic death. The two traveled from Los Angeles to Greenville, S.C., the day before her unexpected passing. According to a police report obtained by NBC News, Hickerson and his brother, Zach, were at the scene. 

Zach was reportedly “very emotional” while first responders were “working on Hayden,” while Hickerson was not “visibly emotional” until Panettiere was pronounced dead. Hickerson also presented police with a “bag of medication” that the late actress was allegedly taking.

Related: Hayden Panettiere Confessed She Had ‘A Lot More Life Left to Live’ in Eerie Last Interview Before Her Death—She Wanted to ‘Leave the World a Better Place’

Panettiere and Hickerson were first linked in 2018, and their relationship was plagued with domestic abuse allegations. During their relationship, Hickerson was arrested numerous times on domestic violence charges.

In 2021, he pleaded no contest to two felony charges of injuring a partner and was subsequently sentenced to 45 days in jail. Hickerson also received four years of probation, a five-year restraining order, and was required to attend 52 mandatory domestic violence classes.

Panettiere died on Aug. 16, 2026, in Greenville. Her official cause of death has not yet been disclosed, but dispatch audio obtained by People revealed that law enforcement is investigating it as a possible “overdose.”

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