Actor Ruby Rose recently got emotional while reflecting on the bond she shared with her good friend and confidante Hayden Panettiere, who died in August.
Rose spoke about Panettiereโs passing during a Sept. 18 interview with Entertainment Tonight, sharing details about the friendship that the two shared over the years. The comments come weeks after Panettiere was found unresponsive at an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. She was 36.
Rose โ who was promoting the upcoming season of reality show โSpecial Forces: Worldโs Toughest Test,โ on which she is a cast member โ began to tear up while speaking about her connection with the late actor.
โThat was my best friend,โ Rose told the outlet. โWe spoke every day for five years.โ
Speaking to the outlet ahead of the showโs premiere on Sept. 24, Rose, 40, also revealed the way in which she met Panettiere.
โI didnโt even think we were going to be friends,โ Rose said. โI didnโt know if I wanted to have any celebrity friends because I … donโt have a great experience with the industry.โ
Rose explained that while she was initially hesitant to befriend Panettiere, her reservations quickly dissolved.
โShe saw me, and I just remember thinking, โOh no!โ And then she ran up anyway and was like, โHey, Iโm Hayden. Can we go talk somewhere? Weโve got a lot in common,โโ Rose said. โAnd then we went and talked, and we had everything in common.โ
Rose told Entertainment Tonight that she and Panettiere would chat daily, texting and โchecking in on each another.โ
โItโs a bigger group now. Thereโs 14 of us that weโve collected over the years,โ Rose said. โThatโs really โ thatโs my family.โ
Rose added that all Panettiere โreally ever wanted was to have her story told โ her way on her terms.โ
Panettiere was in cardiac arrest, meaning her heart had stopped beating, when emergency personnel arrived to the apartment on Aug. 16. Her cause of death has not yet been released.
Chief Deputy Coroner Shelton England of the Greenville County, South Carolina Coronerโs Office told NBC News Sept. 16 that the final toxicology results โ that will determine Panettiereโs official cause and manner of death โ are expected to be released within the next two weeks, he estimated, or possibly sooner.
Both Panettiere and Rose have been vocal about their negative experiences in the entertainment industry. Panettiere reflected on the trauma she endured first as a child actor and later on as an adult in Hollywood in her memoir, โThis Is Me: A Reckoning,โ published in May 2026.
โReality merged with my imagination and burrowed into my core memories, where all my shame and trauma lived. Is it any wonder why Iโve faced so many real struggles in my life?โ she wrote.
Rose has also voiced many of her difficult experiences. In 2021, she alleged that she was fired from the CWโs โBatwomanโ after she was seriously injured on set. Warner Bros. Television Group denied the allegations, saying in a statement Rose was fired over multiple complaints about her behavior.
Since Panettiereโs death, Rose has posted on social media about the painful loss.
โMissing Hayden more than life today,โ Rose wrote in a Sept. 14 Threads post.