Today (Oct. 9) on "Live With Michael & Kelly," 24-year-old actress Hayden Panettiere announced her engagement to boxer Wladimir Klitschko while holding a massive snake around her shoulders, ABC News reports.
The "Nashville" star was all smiles as she held the snake, host Kelly Ripa commenting, "I'm sort of distracted, not just by the snake, but there's a very large diamond ring on your ring finger....I'm not sure if you want to announce anything...Does that signify anything, is that a promise of something?"
Panettiere coyly responded, "It might be...I mean, I think it speaks for itself," prompting Ripa to directly ask her if she was engaged, to which she responded, "I am."
Why was Panettiere holding the snake? After she terrified her hosts with a fake snake prank in a previous interview, Michael Strahan "vowed revenge," though ultimately decided to take the high road, that is, until the actres appeared onstage today holding a giant python which she jokingly referred to as her "new scarf."
After freaking out for several minutes, Strahan was able to compose himself and give the star a "wedding gift" in the form of him touching the snake he so feared.
Panettiere first met her 37-year-old fiancé at a book party in 2009, and despite a brief split, the two got back together this spring. While in Russia for Klitschko's latest fight, a trip that the couple just returned from, the boxer presumably popped the question.
"It's like the 2.0 version," the star told Glamour magazine of their reunion back in April. "I've always had great relationships and stayed really good friends with the guys I've dated. It blows my mind sometimes that us getting together has gotten so much attention. It's like, Really? This is breaking news?"
A rep for the actress confirmed to ABC News that the two are indeed engaged. You can catch more of Panettiere as Juliette Barnes on the new season of ABC's "Nashville," in which her character will compete with country queen Rayna James, played by Connie Britton, as well as an up-and-coming character who plans to steal her thunder.
"This season it's even more fun because she kind of deserves it," the star said on "Good Morning America" today. "This season I'm not going after somebody who doesn't deserve it. We talked about it in the first season where there's somebody who's always digging at your heels and waiting to take that spot and that's this girl. It's like dealing with a new Juliette Barnes."
