Brian Hickerson has confirmed that he and Hayden Panettiere have broken up permanently this time. They had been together for four years- on and off.

In a video posted by the DailyMail,  Hickerson responded to paparazzi questioning if he and Panettiere were still together, “Just, ya know, friends.”

“No, absolutely not,” he confirmed his breakup with the actress.

Brian Hickerson is still on probation over alleged domestic violence incidents with Panettiere. He added that they would not be reconciling saying that he is “looking forward to new chapters.”

The 33-year-old real estate agent and 32-year-old actress were recently involved in a hotel brawl in July which took place outside of the Sunset Marquis in Los Angeles. Hickerson and fellow patrons were scuffling while Panettiere was seen trying to break up the fight.

Talking about Panettiere’s getting back to her Hollywood career, he said, “I’m excited to see the next opportunities for her. She’s out there, ya know, ‘Scream 6,’ so…I think everybody [would] like to see it.”

Talking about her addiction to opioids and alcohol addiction, she revealed that her addiction caused her relationship with ex Wladimir Klitschko to crumble, although they share a 7-year-old daughter Kaya.

Panettiere revealed, “He didn’t want to be around me. I didn’t want to be around me. But with the opiates and alcohol, I was doing anything to make myself feel happy for a moment. Then I’d feel worse than I did before. I was in a cycle of self-destruction.”

After getting hospitalized for jaundice when her liver began to fail, she entered rehab for eight months which helped her overcome her drug addiction.

Hayden Panettiere and Brian Hickerson have been previously been involved in a physical altercation. In May 2019, Hickerson was arrested by LAPD after an alleged physical dispute in their LA home after a Hollywood party. Although Hickerson was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Panettiere, the case was later dismissed. 

Again in 2020, he was arrested and pleaded no contest to two felony counts of injuring a partner.

Panettiere publicly addressed reconnecting with Hickerson, who she had been dating since the summer of 2018 to People, “None of it is OK, and I want to make sure that everybody knows that. But I am open to people who are willing to get help and make amends.”