Girls were much more my speed, says Hayden Panettiere
Hayden Panettiere has discussed her sexuality in her new memoir.
Hayden Panettiere has been "attracted to women just as long as [she's] been attracted to men".
The 36-year-old actress recently came out as bisexual and she's now shared more details about her personal life in her new memoir, revealing that she first experimented with a girl at around eight or nine years old.
Hayden wrote in her memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning: "Girls were much more my speed. Girls made me feel welcome … and also a little bit turned on."
Hayden also explained why she decided to remain tight-lipped about her sexuality.
The Heroes star wrote: "I didn't want anything to disturb my parents, period.
"I've also never told the public I've been with women. I say 'been with women' because I haven't fallen in love or had anything beyond sexual relationships with any, though I suppose that could happen someday."
She added: "I have been attracted to women just as long as I've been attracted to men."
Hayden waited until she had the right level of self-assurance before speaking publicly about her sexuality.
She wrote: "For the sake of your mental health, your relationships with others and your path forward in life, it's so important to be comfortable with who you are. No matter who you're attracted to or where your hands end up."
Hayden previously explained why growing up in the spotlight made it harder to be open about her sexuality.
The blonde beauty told Us Weekly: "I was not encouraged to just be myself.
"No one ever encouraged me to just be myself, and then it came, the period of time, where it felt like people coming out, especially women coming out, and saying that they were bisexual, or liked girls, was a fad."
However, the actress was determined to be "brutally honest" when she decided to pen her new memoir.
The Nashville star - who previously had an on/off relationship with sports star Wladimir Klitschko - said: "I've chosen to be completely brutally honest about this. That's something about me that I was never able to share with the world, because it was just never the right time."
