Hayden Panettiere Insists Her ‘Nashville’ Character Isn’t Based on Taylor Swift

The series premiere of the ABC drama 'Nashville' premiered last night and we were super excited before the show debut. Not just because it stars Hayden Panettiere and ex-'American Horror Story' actress Connie Britton, but because we're bound to hear some great tunes.

The premise of the show is simple: Britton's character is Rayna James, legendary country-western singer who's struggling to make a comeback and sees the bright lights fading before her, when out of nowhere, Panettiere's Juliette Barnes comes along to take the reigns as country music's 'It' girl. But don't let the blonde curly locks and country singing fool you: her character is not based on Taylor Swift.

"Hayden [Panettiere] is my neighbor, actually," said Swift to Zap2it. "She pulled me aside and said, 'I need to talk to you! I need to tell you that my character's not based on you.' And I said, 'I know, Hayden. I saw the pilot. It's amazing.' I think she did an incredible job of being sinister and adorable at the same time, and we had a hilarious conversation about it.'"

And even though Panettiere's character has been labeled by some as a knock off Taylor Swift, she put the kibosh on that at the Disney/ABC's Television Critics Association event.

"I've heard the Taylor Swift thing quite a bit. And I think aside from being around the same age and blonde, we're very different," the actress said. "I think once you see her and get to know my character a little bit better, you'll see that. I really think Taylor would disagree wholeheartedly as well. She's much nicer than my character!"

Watch the Taylor Swift 'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' Video