Hayden Panettiere has sadly died at just 36, with the actress talking about her relationship with Laguna Beach’s Stephen Colletti just a few months prior.<\/p>\n
She told Us Weekly<\/a> in April about how important her relationship with Stephen was in helping her deal with the paparazzi, sharing: “I\u2019m so grateful that he was part of my life, especially when he was. Because when I was with him was when I started having to deal with paparazzi and tabloids and being the focal point of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Because Stephen had been on Laguna Beach from 2004 to 2005, the attention from the press was “something he had dealt with before.” She continued: “He was able to help guide me through that experience and getting used to that”, adding that he was “very protective of me.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayden shared: “He never appeared to be or came off as a bad guy. So I knew that there was a way to protect yourself and put up boundaries without being offensive or rude.\u201d<\/p>\n Hayden Panettiere and Stephen were in a relationship for almost two years, with her actually having seen him not too long before she died, telling Us Weekly: “I think he\u2019s about to become a dad and I\u2019m so happy for him. We don\u2019t keep in touch the way that I wish we did, because he\u2019s such a great guy, but there was no drama.\u201d<\/p>\n The two split at the end of 2007, with Hayden sharing that there wasn’t anything scandalous behind their parting, adding: “We just ended up going our separate ways, there wasn\u2019t really a story there. Like, no drama. It was so peaceful and kind.”<\/p>\n For all the latest reality TV cast member news, scandals, gossip and updates \u2013 like\u00a0<\/i>Reality Shrine<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0<\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ‘I’m so grateful he was part of my life’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249734183,"featured_media":60962,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1358],"tags":[2265],"class_list":["post-60958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-laguna-beach"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/17\/how-hayden-panettieres-relationship-with-stephen-colletti-helped-her-deal-with-fame\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"How Hayden Panettiere’s relationship with Stephen Colletti helped her deal with fame","url":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/17\/how-hayden-panettieres-relationship-with-stephen-colletti-helped-her-deal-with-fame\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/thetab.com\/realityshrine\/2026\/08\/17\/how-hayden-panettieres-relationship-with-stephen-colletti-helped-her-deal-with-fame\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.realitytvshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ellie-New-Featured-Images-2026-08-17T085231.770-150x150.png","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.realitytvshrine.com\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Ellie-New-Featured-Images-2026-08-17T085231.770.png"},"articleSection":"News","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ellie Ring"}],"creator":["Ellie Ring"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reality Shrine","logo":"https:\/\/realitytvshrine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cropped-mX3_1x3z.png"},"keywords":["laguna beach"],"dateCreated":"2026-08-17T07:55:00Z","datePublished":"2026-08-17T07:55:00Z","dateModified":"2026-08-17T07:55:00Z"},"rendered":"