The Biggest Bombshells from Hayden Panettiere's Red Table Talk Interview

Red Table Talk @Angela Andaloro

Hayden Panettiere is opening up about the dark times she endured while growing up in the spotlight.

During a recent episode of Facebook Watch's Red Table Talk, the Heroes alum talked to co-hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, Adrienne Banfield Norris and guest host Kelly Osbourne about the various hardships she's faced amid her successes, both professionally and personally.

After opening up to PEOPLE in July about her opioid and alcohol addiction that nearly cost her career and her life, Panettiere traced the roots of her addiction during the Facebook Watch series.

RELATED: Hayden Panettiere Reveals Addiction to Opioids and Alcohol: 'I Was in a Cycle of Self-Destruction'

Furthermore, she opened up about her experience with postpartum depression in the weeks following the birth of her daughter, Kaya, delving into the harrowing, detrimental cycle she found herself in during that time.

In addition, Panettiere spoke on the misunderstanding that went along with her depression — specifically referencing her now ex-husband Wladimir Klitschko — and opened up for the first time about giving up custody of her only child.

Between the hard truths of her past and the life-changing updates of her present, here are the biggest revelations from Panettiere's chat on Red Table Talk.

Hayden Panettiere said she was given 'happy pills' at the age of 16

MICHAEL TRAN/AFP via Getty Images

Panettiere has been vocal about her struggles with substance abuse in the past, especially as she's transitioned from a child actress to an adult in Hollywood. But now the actress feels like she's discovered the root of her addiction, and traces the pivotal — and "sketchy" — moment back to when she was 16 years old.

"Somebody who was on my team that I was working with came to me, and it was before this red carpet and I had been doing Heroes and we did press all the time and I was a little low-energy," Panettiere explained.

"It was, 'Here, take one of these, it's a happy pill, it'll give you energy,' so I didn't think of it at the time as a bad thing or a drug," she said. Thinking back, she compared the "happy pill" to that of "an Adderall," but revealed that the team member — a person she "trusted" — acquired the prescription stimulant from Mexico.

RELATED: Hayden Panettiere Recalls 'Sketchy' Moment She Was Given 'Happy Pills' on the Red Carpet at Age 16

Hayden Panettiere turned to alcohol to cope with her postpartum depression

The actress admitted that she was influenced by what she "had seen family and the people around [her] do whenever they were depressed or stressed out, which was reach for a bottle." For Panettiere, the use of alcohol only made her depression "that much worse."

While the Nashville star revealed that she sought help when her daughter was around 4 years old — checking in and out of several treatment centers for substance abuse — Panettiere said nobody questioned her behavior prior, despite "people" seeing her "obvious" struggle.

Hayden Panettiere said that Wladimir Klitschko believed postpartum depression was her fault

Jörg Carstensen/Getty

When the co-hosts asked Panettiere if she received support in dealing with her postpartum depression, the actress noted that it was "not something that people understood or talked about" at the time — especially her now ex-husband, whom she said had a very different "mentality" than she did.

"I respect him for being such a driven human being, he's very positive. Athletes, they're just very driven. That mentality is just pretty incredible," she said. "But he's also a man that doesn't have any sisters. So he really thought that I was doing it to myself and just that I could choose to snap out of [the postpartum depression]."

RELATED: Hayden Panettiere Says Wladimir Klitschko Believed She Was Responsible for Postpartum Depression

Hayden Panettiere dealt with negative body image after giving birth

In addition to her postpartum depression, Panettiere said that she also dealt with negative body image in the wake of her pregnancy. Though she noted that her baby bump didn't bother her prior to giving birth, it was the unfamiliar body she was left with after that "took [her] confidence."

She recalled having to shove herself into Spanx during fittings and was told to lift her head "because of the double chin." The actress confessed that she "didn't want to be working and looking like that" at the time.

Hayden Panettiere's role on Nashville mirrored what she dealt with in real life

Chris Hollo/Disney General Entertainment Content

While many actors and actresses portray characters outside of their own, that wasn't fully the case for Panettiere on Nashville. In fact, there were so many similarities between herself and her character Juliette Barnes — especially at the height of her addiction — it made the series such a "tough show to be on," she said.

"I had to go to work every day and be acting out what I was truly going through, so by the time I got home, I didn't want to sit there with my own feelings and work them out," she continued. "I just wanted to escape."

But even when the CMT series wrapped in 2018 after six seasons, matters got worse for Panettiere — who said that she found herself "leaning on that bottle" more because she had "nowhere to be," an unstoppable cycle she describes as a "horrifying nightmare."

RELATED: Hayden Panettiere on Her Relationship with 'Smart, Funny' Daughter Kaya, 7: 'She Still Loves Me'

Hayden Panettiere was given only five years to live

Pinkett Smith asked if she ever thought that "horrifying nightmare" could've been her "demise" if she didn't reach out for help, to which Panettiere responded, "It definitely could've been."

"I remember when I finally called for help I was in a fetal position in bed, couldn't get out, in tears all the time. Even though I knew I had to stop, I couldn't," the actress said of the time she considered "rock bottom."

Panettiere admitted that she turned jaundice at one point, noting her yellow eyes. When she went to the doctor, they informed her that she was heading towards a liver that wouldn't heal on its own if she didn't stop drinking.

"I looked up liver transplant and it said that they only give you five years," she said. "But to have a death sentence still there, and only five years to live, that was terrifying."

RELATED: Hayden Panettiere Says Most Misunderstood Thing About Her Is She Would 'Easily Throw Out My Child'

Hayden Panettiere wasn't aware of her child's custody agreement until she was already in Ukraine

Venturelli/WireImage

Panettiere made sure to set the record straight that relinquishing custody of her daughter Kaya was not something she could "easily" do. She shared new details about how the decision came about for her daughter Kaya to live with her father, Panettiere's ex Klitschko.

The actress revealed that the most misunderstood thing about her is the "idea that I'm a person that would just easily throw out my child, give away my child." The Nashville star explained that Kaya was almost 3 at the time she went to Ukraine to reside with Klitschko, whom the actress split from that year.

Panettiere said signing the custody papers was the "most heartbreaking thing I've ever had to do in my life" — but noted that the way the custody decision was made was "very upsetting" because she was unaware of the custody agreement until Kaya was already in Ukraine.

"I was gonna go work on myself and I was gonna get better, and when I got better that things could change and she could come to me and I could have my time with her," she explained. "But that didn't happen."