Hayden Panettiere Not Happy About Connie Britton’s ‘Nashville’ Death

Nashville star Hayden Panettiere is opening up about Connie Britton’s character Rayna Jaymes being killed off on the CMT drama, and Hayden’s not shying away from letting fans know that she’s not exactly happy about Connie leaving the show or Rayna’s shocking death.

Panettiere spoke about Connie’s departure and Rayna’s death in a new interview, admitting that she’s actually “terrified” of continuing on with the series without Britton by her side after the two appeared alongside since the country music drama first began in 2012.

“I was terrified because she’s always been there from the beginning, and we’ve always been such a team and such a support for one another,” Hayden said of Connie leaving Nashville after five seasons in a new interview with Access Hollywood, suggesting that she wasn’t too happy when she heard the news that Connie would be leaving and Rayna would die.

“I felt like, ‘Oh, my gosh! We’re all going to have to carry this show without her,'” Panettiere said of continuing on with Nashville after Rayna’s shocking death, admitting that staying with the drama without Britton and Rayna is “a really overwhelming idea” for her.

But while Hayden is admitting that she’s not exactly happy Connie quit Nashville after five seasons playing Rayna Jaymes, Panettiere did reveal that she and Britton are still friends despite her departure and admitted that she’s even hoping she and the actress can grow even closer now she’s no longer a part of the CMT show.

“Connie is still in Nashville. She’s in Nashville with her son,” Hayden confirmed, noting that Britton has not left the city where the cast films following Rayna’s death. “I think she’s going to be there for a little while… We do keep in touch. I hope because of this we can grow even closer.”

Hayden Panettiere’s latest Nashville confessions come just days after Panettiere opened up about Connie Britton, leaving the show and Rayna’s subsequent death during an appearance on The Talk, where Hayden confessed that the shocking Nashville death and Britton’s departure is still “hard” for her to discuss.

Nashville star Panettiere spoke out about Rayna’s death during the February 23 episode of the drama titled “If Tomorrow Never Comes,” as Hayden revealed on the talk show that she’s still struggling to even speak about Connie leaving.

“It’s hard for me to even talk about it,” Hayden said of Rayna’s death during her March 3 appearance on The Talk, just days after the shocking moment aired on Season 5 of Nashville.

“That was also the day that, you know, she’s lying in the hospital bed,” Panettiere continued of Rayna’s death. “Her daughters are singing this song for her, and as a mother, the idea of seeing two little girls lose their mom, it’s hard for me to talk about. It really is,” Hayden continued.

While Connie is yet to confirm whether Rayna’s death was her idea or if those behind the scenes of the CMT show opted to kill off the character, Britton was met with a whole lot of backlash late last month after fans saw Rayna’s death play out on Nashville prior to Panettiere’s latest confessions.

Nashville fans flocked to social media after seeing the heartbreaking episode, blasting Britton for leaving the show after viewers campaigned to have Season 5 made following the news that ABC had canceled the show previously headed by Connie and Hayden for five seasons last year.

Fans noted that Hayden and her co-stars actively campaigned to have Nashville brought back to life on another network before CMT announced that they would be showing Season 5, but claimed that Connie stayed mainly silent amid the campaigning from Panettiere, her co-stars, and Nashville’s fans.

“So many fans fought so hard to #KeepNashville for this? Acting was amazing and #heartwrenching but Nashville without #Rayna? #Devastated,” @HelicGillis hit back following Rayna’s death and @PawsUpMonsters slammed the Panettiere led show by writing online, “The fans fought so hard to get Nashville back and then you kill off Rayna? Lmao I sure wish it had stayed canceled.”

What do you think of Hayden Panettiere’s confessions that she’s “terrified” and not exactly too happy about Connie Britton leaving Nashville and Rayna Jaymes’s subsequent death?

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images]