Hayden Panettiere Is Engaged!

Oct. 9, 2013 -- "Nasvhille" star Hayden Panettiere is engaged to boxer Wladimir Klitschko, she announced Wednesday on "Live With Kelly & Michael."

As Panettiere held a snake, co-host Kelly Ripa remarked, "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 responded, "It might be. ... I mean, I think it speaks for itself." Then, when Ripa asked directly, "Are you engaged?" and Panettiere said, "I am," and later added that she hadn't picked a date, given her schedule.

A rep for the star confirmed the news to ABC News as well.

Panettiere, 24, first met Klitschko, 37, in 2009 at a book party, and although they split for a time, they were back together by last spring.

See Hayden Panettiere's Hot New Look

"It's like the 2.0 version," she told Glamour magazine of their romance this time around. "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?"

Hayden Panettiere, Wladimir Klitschko Spotted Kissing

Can't blame her fans for caring.

Panettiere has returned to TV as Juliette Barnes in ABC's primetime country music drama, "Nashville." This season she'll compete not only with country's reigning queen, Rayna James, played by Connie Britton, but also with an up-and-coming performer who seems to be stealing Juliette's thunder.

"This season it's even more fun because she kind of deserves it," Panettiere 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."