Hayden Panettiere uses crutches in rare outing with on-off boyfriend and convicted felon Brian Hickerson

Hayden Panettiere was seen hobbling about on crutches as she made her way through LAX with her on-off boyfriend, convicted felon Brian Hickerson.

Over the course of their turbulent relationship Hickerson faced multiple domestic violence charges, and in 2021 he served 13 days in prison for injuring her. 

He announced in July 2022 that they had split, but from that November onwards they were glimpsed together repeatedly, igniting rumors of a reunion.

In an interview that ran in April 2023, Panettiere hinted she may have taken Hickerson back but stopped short of providing an outright confirmation. 

Their trip via LAX this week was the first time the two of them have been glimpsed together in public since another airport sighting in August 2023.

When asked about the crutches, Panettiere, 36, explained that she was suffering from 'some pinched nerves in my lower back,' in footage obtained by the Daily Mail. 

However she added that she was 'on the mend,' offering a smile and a thumbs up before climbing into a black SUV outside the airport.

The Daily Mail has contacted her representatives for further comment. 

During her April 2023 interview, Panettiere had trod gingerly around the subject of her and Hickerson potentially rekindling their romance, via the New York Times.

She revealed they became friends again while pursuing their sobriety but insisted their relationship was 'contingent on him continuing on this road of recovery.' 

Hickerson was in her apartment during the interview, and although she repeatedly called him 'babe,' she did not directly answer the question of whether they were officially back together, saying simply: 'There are feelings there, yes.' 

Panettiere maintained that allowing him back into her life was not a decision she made 'lightly,' and on the subject of the time she spent behind bars, she said: 'He knows he deserved what happened to him.'

She first took up with Hickerson in 2018, when she was in the depths of her struggles with drink and opioids and had recently split from Ukrainian boxing star Wladimir Klitschko, the father of her 11-year-old daughter Kaya.

Hickerson was first charged with domestic violence against Panettiere in 2019, and although she got a protective order, the charges were dropped.

On Valentine's Day 2020 he was arrested again for domestic violence, with police saying he hit Panettiere 'with a closed fist on the right side of her face,' via TMZ.

'I am coming forward with the truth about what happened to me in the hope that my story will empower others in abusive relationships to get the help they need and deserve,' Panettiere declared after his arrest. 'I am prepared to do my part to make sure this man never hurts anyone again.' 

Hickerson found himself facing eight charges and eventually pled no contest to two felony counts of injuring a spouse or girlfriend. 

He was sentenced to 45 days in county jail in April 2021 and served 13 days the following month, on top of which he had to pay a $500 fine and is still on probation.

In July 2022, Hickerson said he and Panettiere were 'just friends' and were 'absolutely not' romantically involved with one another anymore.

His remarks came shortly after Panettiere said that she as 'trying to live in a place of forgiveness' with regard to Hickerson, according to People.

As far as the abuse was concerned, she said: '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. He's gone to treatment and done his time.'

Hickerson was by Panettiere's side in March 2023 at a celebration of life for her brother Jansen, who was found dead at 28 at his apartment that February of an undiagnosed enlarged heart and aortic valve complications.

The following year fans theorized she had fallen off the wagon when she slurred her words in an interview about her brother's death. 

Her representatives defended her sobriety in a statement saying: 'Speaking about her brother for the first time was very emotional for her - and it had been a long and exhausting day for her. She was not under the influence,' via Page Six.

Panettiere recently announced that she is releasing a memoir called This Is Me: A Reckoning, slated for publication on May 19.