After Hayden Panettiere and Wladimir Klitschko split up, she began to date someone new. When Panettiere first started dating new beau Brian Hickerson, there was some drama from the get-go. As one source told Us Weekly of their relationship in 2018, it was "not a healthy situation."

Unfortunately, it seems as though that reflection might have been more of a premonition. In May 2019, Hickerson was arrested for domestic violence. Hickerson's bail was set at $50,000 at the time, according to In Touch. Eventually, the charges against Hickerson were dropped, but the couple appeared to split up for a while before getting back together in November of 2019, as reported by People. Though they got back together, a source told the magazine that Panettiere's family wasn't thrilled about her decision. "They are not fans of Brian," the source said. "It's clear that he has issues of his own, not to mention the anger issues, which is obviously a big one." 

In February 2020, Hickerson was arrested for domestic violence again after allegedly punching Panettiere in the head, as reported by TMZ. At the time of this writing, it's unclear if Panettiere and Hickerson are still together.