Hayden Panettiere Just Publicly Came Out As Bisexual—And She Explained Why She Waited So Long

Scream and Heroes star Hayden Panettiere is soon releasing her memoir This is Me: A Reckoning, and according to an interview with US Weekly, she almost didn't write it.

Despite many of her characters being confident, kind, and often bubbly in nature, Panettiere's life at home was riddled with dark moments, including tremendous public pressure, abuse, drug addiction, and tragic loss.

When presented with the idea of writing a memoir, she questioned if she was ready to tell the story of her life, and even if she was, would she want it out where anyone could read it?

Now that it's nearing release, Panettiere is getting honest about her life up to this point, including coming out as bisexual at the age of 36.

Panettiere announced:

"Now that I know this book is coming out, and that I've chosen to share it with the world, I'm comfortable to confidently say that yes, I am bisexual."

"I said it! This is the first time I got to say it out loud."

For those who might question why she waited so long, Panettiere confided during the US Weekly interview that it never seemed to be the right time. Either she was young and felt pressured to be perfect, she was dating someone in the public eye, or she didn't want to come across as disingenuous during a time when coming out seemed almost trendy.

Panettiere confided:

"It never felt like the right time. It was either I was too young, and I was being forced to be perfect at all times. I was not encouraged to just be myself."

"Then came the period where it felt like people coming out, especially women, saying that they were bisexual or liked girls, was a fad."

"I was afraid that if I was honest, it was going to be like me jumping on the bandwagon. It was a very difficult topic to articulate properly."

"And it was scary because there were paparazzi always waiting for me outside, to follow me everywhere. I had very little privacy."

"I have dated women. I was much more into women even as a child than I was into men. I have explored it, but because I hadn't shared this with anybody, I didn't really have the courage to throw myself fully emotionally into it."

"Because then if I did fall in love, that wasn't something that I wanted to ever have to hide."

"It's sad that I had to wait until I was 36 years old to share that part of myself, but better late than never, right?"

Fans applauded Panettiere for being true to herself.

Some people claimed to "see it coming" from Panettiere's roles in Heroes, Scream, and Ice Princess, but it was her story to tell. And now that she's ready to tell it, it's wonderful that she's staying true to herself.