Hayden Panettiere shares new hints about ‘very famous’ man she was put in bed with at 18

Hayden Panettiere has shared more details about a horrifying encounter she had on a boat when she was just 18.

The 36-year-old American actress, who is currently promoting her new memoir This Is Me: A Reckoning, initially opened up on the experience during an appearance on Jay Shetty’s podcast, On Purpose with Jay Shetty, on 11 May.

However, Tuesday’s (18 May) release of Panettiere’s book brought more information to light, including hints about who the story was about.

In the podcast episode, the actress discussed being ‘betrayed’ by a friend, who put her in bed with a famous man when she was 18, while they were at sea on a boat.

She recalled: “By the time I'd realized I was in danger, I was quite literally out to sea. I had been having a great time. There was no hints of anything like that happening. So I was shocked."

Panettiere claimed she was led’ by somebody that she’ had grown to trust and saw as a protector, and somebody who had my back’.

Hayden Panettiere's memoir, This Is Me: A Reckoning, was published this week (Dominik Bindl/FilmMagic/Getty Images)

She said: “So to be walked down the stairs... it was presented as though it was a surprise, and it was this very small room.

“She physically put me in the bed next to this undressed man who was very famous, and had his hands like this," she added, putting on a careless expression, “like this was just an average day for him, and this is something that happens all the time."

She said she had ‘nowhere to hide’ but ‘bolted and I hid wherever she could think of to hide on a boat’ as ‘there was no jumping off and swimming away’.

Discussing the terrifying moment in her memoir, Panettiere revealed that the man in question was a ‘famous thirty-something British singer-songwriter,’ as reported by E! News.

She added that the moment took place during a trip to the South of France aboard a ‘super yacht’ filled with celebrities, while she was travelling with a close friend.

Panettiere claims she was led down a hallway to the shirtless man, where she thought, "Oh my God. Is he naked under there?" adding that her friend whispered to her, “I want you to get in bed with him. He has a huge d***.”

Panettiere revealed the man was a 'famous thirty-something British singer-songwriter' (XNY/Star Max/Getty Images)

The friend then left her alone in the room with the ‘very famous man,’ before Panettiere told him: “I don’t know what she said to you, but this is not going to happen,” and rushed away.

Speaking of her so-called friend’s actions, she wrote: “I wasn’t scared, but I felt like I’d been kicked in the face.

“She’d confided in me, pampered me, and treated me like her best friend - then turned around and treated me like a call girl. I deserved better than that, by a lot.”

As for why she’s kept the man’s identity a secret, the actress previously told The Hollywood Reporter: “It was a bad look for them and [the people I didn’t name] were generally people within my industry.

“They’re people I could run into again. I didn’t want to put myself in that position.”

She added, “Things happened a long time ago, but it was to protect me and my company from being sued by some very p***ed-off famous people.”

• Hayden Panettiere recalls moment ‘friend’ put her in bed with ‘very famous’ naked older man as teen