hayden panettiere is opening up about her late brother, Jansen Panettiere, virtually two years after his loss of life.

The actress, who’s starring within the upcoming movie “Amber Alert,” stated that when her brother died suddenly in 2023 from cardiomegaly (enlarged coronary heart) coupled with aortic valve issues, it felt like she “misplaced half of my soul.”

“He was my solely sibling, and it was my job to guard him,” she instructed People in an interview because the journal’s new cowl star.

“I’ll at all times be heartbroken about it,” she added. “I’ll by no means have the ability to recover from it. Regardless of what number of years go by, I’ll by no means recover from his loss.”

How grief affected her well being

Panettiere stated that her physique bodily reacted to her brother’s loss of life.

“I simply ballooned out,” she stated.

“I did not really feel assured to placed on garments and get out of the home,” she added.

The actress stated that within the days after Jansen’s loss of life, she gained 40 lbs because of stress and excessive cortisol ranges in her physique.

“I needed to see horrific paparazzi photos of myself popping out of Jansen’s funeral, which occurred in a really personal place, and it was surprising,” she stated. “My agoraphobia got here out, which is one thing I struggled with prior to now.”

Wanting again on it, Panettiere stated that she thinks what she was experiencing was her physique “defending itself, shielding itself from the world.”

How she discovered therapeutic by way of wellness, train

Final yr, Panettiere’s publicist launched her to private coach and CEO of M/BODY, a barre expertise, Marnie Alton, who not solely helped the actress get match, but additionally grew to become somebody she might vent to and belief.

“She empowered me,” stated Panettiere, who defined that Alton’s strategy to train wasn’t like boot camp.

Panettiere stated that together with Alton’s assist in getting her to work out within the fitness center, the duo would go on “lengthy, lovely walks the place we might vent, and it might be this remedy session.”

Their friendship blossomed and Panettiere stated that Alton grew to become her life coach.

“My physique simply began reacting, not simply from figuring out,” Panettiere stated concerning the constructive affect the life-style modifications had on her. “It allowed me to launch the stress, the excessive expectations I would at all times placed on myself.”

“There’s nothing like wanting within the mirror and feeling such as you look ok to stroll out the door,” she added.

Since working with Panettiere, Alton talked about how proud she is of the actress.

“She has simply been so brave,” she stated. “She was eager to make an enormous change in her life, and as a way to do this, it’s a must to be actually sincere about the place you are at within the now.”

How Panettiere is transferring ahead

Now virtually two years after her brother’s loss of life, Panettiere stated that she’s “beginning to really feel like myself once more.”

The actress stated that she feels “content material” and is specializing in issues that matter to her most, together with her daughter, Kaya, who she shares along with her ex, Wladimir Klitschko.

“She does so many issues,” Panettiere stated about Kaya. “She golfs, she performs chess. She’s been dancing since she was little and loves singing.”

Panettiere stated she can also be engaged on her autobiography, which can showcase “the true me, from my perspective.”

And whereas she misses Jansen, Panettiere stated he “will at all times be beside me.”