Hayden Panettiere Publicly Comes Out as Bisexual

Heroes and Scream star Hayden Panettiere is opening up about her sexuality for the first time in her upcoming memoir.

via: Them

After previously being “afraid” to talk about her sexuality, Panettierre decided to speak about being bisexual in This Is Me: A Reckoning, which will be released on May 19, per an exclusive preview in Us Weekly.

“That’s something about me I was never able to share with the world, because it was just never the right time," she told Us Weekly of her sexuality. “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.”

Panettiere added that she was “afraid” that if she were honest about her sexuality, it would seem like she was “jumping on the bandwagon.”

“I wanted to make sure that I really sat down and chose my words carefully and was able to tell my story in an honest way, that people understood,” she said. “On one hand, it’s sad that I had to wait till I was 36 years old to share that part of me, but better late than never, right?”

Panettiere said talking about her bisexuality with Us Weekly was the “first time I got to say it out loud.” Though she noted that she has never fallen in love with a woman, she shared that she has dated a few.

“It was scary, though, because there were paparazzi always waiting for me outside, to follow me everywhere,” she said. “I had very little privacy. I have dated women. I was much more into women even as a child than I was men.”

She added, “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.”

Aside from bisexuality, Panettiere spoke to Us Weekly about other revelations from her forthcoming memoir, including her experiences with a stalker and postpartum depression.

This Is Me: A Reckoning will be released on May 19.