Hayden Panettiere Wants to Have Four Kids, Wishes That Wladimir Klitschko "Figured Out a Way to Get Pregnant"

Nashville actress opens up about Kaya's baptism on Live! With Kelly and Michael

By Zach Johnson Sep 28, 2015 7:05 PMTags

Hayden Panettiere has babies on the brain!

The Nashville actress and her fiancé Wladimir Klitschko welcomed their firstborn daughter, Kaya, in December 2014. Over the summer, the family traveled to France and Germany, "and we spent some time in Ukraine," Panettiere recalled on Live! With Kelly and Michael Monday. "Kaya got introduced to her other native country. We did her baptism there, and that was one of the most incredible parts."

Kaya's baptism didn't go smoothly, however. "This kid loves water. She's never cried anytime we've put her in the shower, the bath or the ocean. She loves swimming. And of course the one time that we need her to not cry is the priest dipping her into the holy water, and this kid is just wailing. All the pictures are these beautiful pictures and everyone's all dolled up and her head is covered and [she screamed]," Panettiere said. "The priest, at one point, he takes a little bit of her hair and cuts it—it's part of the tradition—and she was like, 'Honey, you take my hair, I take yours.' She took his beard and yanked. My husband has the beard hair."

Panettiere "would love to have a big family," but she's not putting the cart before the horse. "I always said four, but I'm not going to speak too soon. One at a time. I mean, I would love it if Wlad figured out a way to get pregnant and he could have the baby," she said. "We would be going right now, no problem."

"If he could, would he?" Kelly Ripa asked. "That's the question."

"Absolutely. Absolutely," Panettiere replied. "I asked him this question...He's going to be like, 'I can't believe you told them!' But when I was pregnant, he did this thing where he would suck in his stomach and then I would put my stomach to his so that he could feel when she was moving—almost like she was in his stomach. He wanted to feel what it was like to have a baby as close to him as it was to me."

"Wow," Michael Strahan said. "You put it that way, it makes me wanna cry."

"And then, labor happens!" Ripa said.

"Oh, he felt it! I made sure of that," Panettiere joked. "No, he was a trooper."

Strahan then asked Panettiere why she won't be reprising her role as Claire Bennett on NBC's Heroes Reborn." You know, I loved that show. That show was such a huge part of my life," said the actress, who played the part for four seasons from 2006 to 2010. "It took me such a long time to get out of a cheerleading outfit. I just love where I am right now and I love being on Nashville...but I love Heroes so much. I can't wait to see it. I've been seeing the previews; I cannot wait to see what they're doing on it. They've got Masi Oka back and Jack Coleman. I think I saw Greg Grunberg. So, they've got some of the old cast back. I hope the fans will love it, because they're so loyal and so wonderful and so supportive."

(E! and NBC are both members of the NBCUniversal family.)