Hayden Panettiere dating NFL star

Hayden Panettiere is reportedly dating NFL player Scotty McKnight, rather than his team mate Mark Sanchez, who she was wrongly linked to last week.

Hayden Panettiere is reportedly dating NFL player Scotty McKnight.

The 'Scream 4' star was erroneously linked to New York Jets star Mark Sanchez last week, after the pair were seen eating burgers together, but it has now been revealed she is romancing his teammate Scotty, 23.

A source told Us Weekly magazine the new developments in Hayden's love life.

Discussing her relationship with Mark, the 21-year-old actress said earlier this month: "I swear I'm not dating him at all. Honestly. I'm a huge Jets fan and became very good friends with him and his buddies.

"There's genuinely, absolutely nothing going on. I've always been that girl who has a lot of dude friends. I'm into sports so we have a lot in common, but no, definitely 100 per cent not dating."

Hayden - who recently had her hair cropped into a short bob - also spoke about the difficulties of having friends of the opposite sex in Hollywood.

She said: "Every person I stand next to in this industry is a guy I'm going to be linked to.

"When it's a long-term friendship like that, sometimes it starts getting a little bit frustrating for certain people."

Hayden is making a fresh start after splitting from heavyweight boxing champion Wladmir Klitschko last month after a year and a half together because they couldn't cope with having a long-distance relationship.

Hayden lived in the US, while 35-year-old Wladimir - who was raised in the Ukraine - is based in Hamburg, Germany.

Hayden said: "While we decided to split, we feel great sympathy and respect for each other and will surely stay close friends."

Wladimir added: "We had a great time together. But more and more we realised how difficult it is to maintain a relationship when living on two continents. I cherish Hayden as a person and woman."