Hayden Panettiere opens up about her mental and physical health after her ‘slurred’ words in interview sparked concern

Hayden Panettiere has said it's 'wild' how stress can impact the body after a recent interview where she appeared to slur her words.

The Heroes actress, 35, spoke about the death of her younger brother Jansen Panettiere, among other topics, with PEOPLE last week.

In one viral clip, the star talks about her daughter, Kaya, describing her as being 'just like her'.

But viewers were concerned as Panettiere seemingly struggled to pronounce her words and have some slurred speech in the footage.

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Her brother, Jansen, died at the age of 28 from an undiagnosed heart condition on February 19 last year.

The Medical Examiner reported Jansen's sudden passing was due to cardiomegaly - an enlarged heart - coupled with aortic valve complications.

Now, Panettiere has opened up about the physical and mental toll grief has taken on her.

Joining Hoda Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager on Today with Hoda and Jenna, Panettiere admitted she thought sharing her mental health struggles would have been 'easier'.

She continued: “I thought that people would have empathy – [that it] was going to be the only thing that was there, but I had no idea how my body, my mind, was going to react to grief.

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“It’s wild what stress and grief and all these hormones and running through your body can do… I mean, make you faint. My mother, when she got stressed – she’s gonna kill me for saying this – she used to get knots on her head.”

The Nashville star candidly added: “It comes in all different forms, so nobody should be embarrassed by it or judged for it.”

Panettiere also confessed that she hasn't fully processed her brother's sudden passing, saying: “I think it’s something that transforms over time. Maybe the five stages of grief is for people who have had a heartbreak or find out some bad news. Yes, there are five stages, but there’s so much more in between.”

“And when you lose somebody that you saw in all of the important moments in your life, standing right next to you, it just rocks your world,” she said. “So it just changes … it changes.”

Last week, Panettiere's representative addressed the public concern surrounding her PEOPLE interview. They spoke to Page Six, telling the publication that for the singer 'speaking about her brother for the first time was very emotional for her', adding: "It had been a long and exhausting day for her. She was not under the influence."

Meanwhile, a source close to the actor also claimed to Page Six that her team 'was on set for the duration of the shoot', while Panettiere 'fully cooperated' during the video interview.