“Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere will steam up our screens with a girl-on-girl smooch in the new season of the hit US show. And the 20-year-old actress admitted she loved shooting the scenes. Her character, cheerleader Claire Bennett, goes to college and meets new room-mate Gretchen – Madeline Zima of Californication fame – who swiftly develops a major crush on the cute blonde.

Hayden said: “Claire has a room-mate who is the biggest relationship in this season because she has finally got what she had with Zach, her friend in the first season, which was a confidante and somebody who she can tell her secrets to. She hasn’t had anyone like that since then. Then this new character Gretchen comes along, and she becomes that person for me. It’s a very interesting relationship because there’s a little bit of a flirting with, ‘Are we friends? Are we more? Do I have feelings for you in that way?’ That’s the relationship so far and where exactly it’s going, I have no idea. I absolutely enjoyed playing that kind of complicated relationship. Oh, yeah. I kissed a girl and I liked it.”

Hayden admits the new element in Claire’s story has made the series more exciting for her – in fact she can’t wait to get her script each week to find out what she’ll be up to next in the superheroes drama.