Nikita Panfilov Says Marriage Is a Mistake
This image shows Nikita Panfilov in a rare appearance with hair from his medical drama role.
Nikita Panfilov has long won viewers« hearts — sometimes as a charismatic detective in »The Hound« (16+), sometimes as an attentive doctor in »The Obstetrician« (16+). He is accustomed to being seen in the images of men who know exactly what they want and know how to achieve it. But in the actor»s real life, everything is much more complicated. Panfilov has three official marriages, three children — and not one «and they lived happily ever after.» We tell how the actor, used to playing love on screen, could not find it in life.
«I Wanted to Get Married From the Age of Three»
Nikita was surrounded by love from childhood. He saw how his dad adores his mom, how his grandfather looks at his grandmother with awe, even after many years of life together. Observing the family idyll, Panfilov dreamed that he would have exactly the same.
— My parents told me that I wanted to get married from the age of three. When they asked me: «What are you doing?» — I answered: «Getting married!» — Panfilov recalls.
A personal photograph of the actor shared on the VK social media platform.
The lively and sociable little Nikita wanted to grow up quickly and start his own family. According to him, while playing in the yard, he «got married» to all the girls and only one refused him.
In school, Panfilov continued to be popular with the opposite sex, but thoughts of marriage took a back seat. He was full of energy that he didn«t know what to do with, and because of this, he gradually became the main troublemaker.
— Always in conflict with the school, with bad grades, with a black eye, with a torn pioneer badge, a crumpled tie, — Nikita described his standard school kit.
Since school was boring for Panfilov due to constant monotony, his parents enrolled him in a Greco-Roman wrestling section. At first, the boy liked the training and competitions; he even became a master of sports and entered an Olympic reserve school. However, he got bored here too, and at some point, he realized that professional sports were not for him.
— There are no changes or creativity: day after day, you»re in the same suit, in the familiar room, on the same mat, practicing the same techniques, — Panfilov expressed his disappointment.
Another image from Panfilov«s VK profile showcasing his personal life.
Wanting change, Nikita didn«t even notice when he brought one upon himself at age 16. One morning, he woke up and said goodbye forever to his luxurious head of hair, and while his classmates were combing, cutting, and changing their hairstyles, he remained completely bald.
— I took a passport photo at 16, and the very next day, my hair started falling out. It»s like some kind of magic. I cried in front of the mirror when my hair was falling out. You just take it, and all the hair stays in your hands, as if some radiation had occurred. Maybe it«s hormones. My grandfather, great-grandfather, and father all had the same thing, — Panfilov admitted in one interview.
Nikita didn»t have to grieve for long over the loss of his hair, as even without it, his personal life was in full swing. However, each love story did not have a happy ending.
«I Almost Lost Consciousness From the Betrayal»
Nikita«s parents worked in the theater all their lives — his father as a manager, his mother as a director. So after school, Panfilov, without much thought, applied to the Institute of Contemporary Art for the acting department.
A post from the actor«s official Instagram group, noted for its restricted status in Russia.
Nikita didn«t stay long at the university, and it was all because of love. Panfilov was dating one of the students, and when the girl left him for someone else, he stopped attending classes, withdrew into himself, and even thought about ending his life.
— I just gave up and that»s it. This was right after school: such a desperate time, hormones and all that. Then I thought that the only way out of this situation was to join the army, — Panfilov concluded for himself.
After serving two years, Nikita applied to theater school again, but this time to the Shchepkin Higher Theatre School. He was accepted for targeted training, and everything seemed to be working out. However, he couldn«t even study for a year — the funding was canceled, and Panfilov didn»t have enough money to pay for it himself.
The third attempt — GITIS (Russian Institute of Theatre Arts). And again, expulsion. This time, Panfilov was shown the door after he started a fight.
Going through all the universities in his head, Nikita remembered that he hadn«t tried his luck at one more — the Moscow Art Theatre School. During the application, he didn»t admit that it was his fourth time before the commission. When asked why he decided to study only at age 20, Nikita answered that he had served in the army. The truth came out during one of the exams, where his former teachers came.
— Then Zolotovitsky (Igor Zolotovitsky, course leader at the Moscow Art Theatre School. — Ed.) said: «You»re a theatrical prostitute! If we had known, we wouldn«t have taken you,» — Nikita recalls the teacher«s words.
Panfilov in an early romantic role from the drama series «Adjutants of Love».
But the possibility of another expulsion no longer frightened Panfilov much. He was again completely absorbed in love. This time, for the future actress Vera Babenko. As students, they got married and dreamed of building a family together and becoming famous.
All plans collapsed in an instant when Nikita accidentally found out that his beloved was cheating on him.
— I almost lost consciousness from the betrayal. I saw Vera«s correspondence with another and understood everything. She said they had nothing, knelt, cried, — Panfilov reluctantly recalls that moment.
Nikita didn»t believe Babenko«s words, and after two years of life together, the marriage fell apart. Panfilov received his diploma and threw himself into work. Filming in series, movies, constant performances in theaters — there was no time to think about serious relationships or go on dates. However, love found him again when he least expected it.
»It«s a Painful Topic»
Even before his first major role in the film «Dukhless» (18+), Panfilov met his second wife — Lada Poyarkova. The striking brunette came to interview him and, along with a successful piece, also won the actor«s heart.
The actor appearing in a television interview discussing his life and career.
In 2010, the madly in love Nikita and Lada got married, and soon they had a son. They named the boy to match his patronymic — Dobrynya.
Panfilov doted on his heir and after filming, he would rush home to his wife and son. However, more often, he was met not with comfort and affection at home, but with scandals, accusations of infidelity on set, and demands from his wife to quit work. Panfilov tried to negotiate and explain that playing love and loving are not the same thing, but it was all in vain. From his son, he learned that his second wife had also been unfaithful to him.
— I told my son that he should obey his parents. To this, Dobrynya said: «Yes, I will obey mom, dad, and uncle. I won»t say that uncle«s name,» — Nikita shared his personal drama in one interview.
Again, a difficult conversation and divorce. According to Panfilov, the breakup was so hard on him that he woke up one day with gray hair, even though he wasn«t yet 40.
— Last year, I didn»t have a single gray hair, but now my whole beard is gray, — the actor lamented.
An Instagram post highlighting Panfilov«s activities from his official group.
After the divorce, Nikita«s career took off — he found his perfect image of an »honest law enforcer« and began regularly getting lead roles in crime series. But while one side of the scale was filling up, the other was emptying.
— After the divorce, my relationship with his mother didn»t work out, and I haven«t been able to communicate with Dobrynya as much as I»d like. Alas, when parents separate, children suffer, become a stumbling block, — Panfilov complained about family difficulties.
«Marriage Is a Mistake»
At the end of 2016, Panfilov, who had always met people in real life before, changed his tactic. He went online in search of true love. The experience was successful; Nikita met Ksenia Sokolova. The girl worked as a doctor, lived in St. Petersburg, and had no idea she was corresponding with a famous actor.
Another social media update from the actor«s restricted Instagram account.
The couple secretly married six months after meeting, and to show the seriousness of their intentions, they also had a church wedding.
In 2018, the spouses had a daughter, Aurora, and Panfilov boasted that he was with Ksenia during the baby«s birth and supported her in every way.
— I was present at the birth, which lasted 24 hours, and honestly, at some point, I almost lost consciousness. It felt like I had given birth myself, — the actor said.
For four years, Nikita couldn»t get over the joy that he had finally met the woman he could always rely on. With her, he appeared on red carpets, told in interviews how easily they got along in everyday life and shared responsibilities. But in 2022, in one of the conversations, Panfilov hinted that he and Ksenia had divorced.
— I had three successful marriages. All wives are beauties, smart women, but it didn«t work out. There»s no one to blame for that. We just needed to be more tolerant of each other, — the actor shared.
A recent post from Panfilov«s Instagram, which faces limitations in Russia.
What exactly happened in the couple, Panfilov prefers not to talk about, but only later it turned out that the spouses had not parted for good and continued to live together. In 2025, the actor announced that they had a second daughter — Athena.
— I am the father of three children. The main thing is that they are happy. Everything else is secondary, — Nikita shared the happy news.
After the birth of another child, Panfilov did not want to marry Ksenia again. According to him, the main thing in a relationship is love, and as his experience showed, the stamp in the passport only ruins everything.
— Marriage is a mistake. People need to prove that you are worthy of being with them, not scare them with a stamp in the passport, — the actor drew his conclusions.
