Brooke knows the best, and the worst
Her parents are in the middle of a tawdry divorce, her brother is in jail and she’s cut off contact with her mom because of her mother’s teenage boyfriend.
It would seem that with all the drama engulfing Brooke Hogan these days, the last place she’d want to be is in front of the cameras.
But she still was eager to sign up for her own reality show, VH1’s “Brooke Knows Best,” debuting today (noon, cable channel 62 in Spokane, 42 in Coeur d’Alene).
The Hogans had been depicted for four seasons on the network’s “Hogan Knows Best” as Hulk Hogan’s loving, tight-knit clan.
But over the last year, the superstar wrestler (whose real name is Terry Bollea) and his wife, Linda, have had an acrimonious split, while son Nick Bollea is serving an eight-month sentence after pleading no contest to causing a crash that seriously injured his friend.
Despite it all, Brooke, 19, has maintained the bubbly, wisecracking persona familiar from “Hogan Knows Best.” The budding pop star talked about how she’s coping with the turmoil:
Q: What made you want to do another reality show?
A: The first four times we did the reality show, I didn’t have my stuff together with my music career. So this time, I’m like, all right, I have to start recording an album and using this TV show to my benefit, other than just letting these cameras come into my life to make ratings. And plus, I have to admit I really do miss the guys when they’re gone, because they’re like built-in family now, all the cameramen and stuff. So it’s like, “Ah man, I really hate being followed all the time, but OK, come back. You guys are cute.”
Q: Do you think the Hogan reality show helped tear your family apart?
A: I don’t think a camera and a cameraman can destroy a family. … But I think that it was the pressure of the cameras being there and the pressure of being on guard and not really being able to let your feelings fly, like if you are mad at somebody. … So I think it kind of suppressed it to the point where it almost let it explode, but I think that it would have come sooner or later.
Q:Were you at one point as disappointed in your dad?
A:My dad and I had a little bit of a tiff earlier this year and that kind of stuff I really don’t want to talk about now, but I was disappointed for a minute. But what I respect about my dad is he comes forth and he tells the truth … Once the truth comes out and that person can be man enough to tell you the truth, it gives me an even higher respect for them than before.
The birthday bunch
Actor Patrick Stewart is 68. Actor Robert Forster is 67. Musician Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) is 66. Actor Harrison Ford is 66. Actor-comedian Cheech Marin is 62. Actor-director Cameron Crowe is 51. Actor Michael Jace (“The Shield”) is 43.