Hulk Hogan, who died July 24 at 71, was a pop culture fixture whose family life unravelled amid reality TV fame, a bitter divorce, and estrangement from his daughter. The wrestling icon, real name Terry Bollea, starred with his wife Linda and children Brooke and Nick in the reality series Hogan Knows Best from 2005 to 2007.
Hulk said he agreed to the show to boost his children's careers, but it instead strained his marriage. Linda admitted in 2006 that the cameras made their relationship stressful, saying on The Howard Stern Show: 'Sometimes, we hate each other.' She filed for divorce in 2007 after 24 years of marriage, amid allegations Hulk had an affair with one of Brooke's friends, Christiane Plante.
Plante told the National Enquirer she began a relationship with Hulk after Linda had left him, though no papers were filed. Hulk denied the claims. The divorce was finalised in 2009, with Linda later alleging abuse in her 2011 memoir Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Against the Ropes.
Legal battles continued over finances. Linda received 70 percent of liquid assets, 40 percent of Hulk's businesses, and a portion of his Gawker settlement. In 2019, a judge ordered Hulk to pay Linda's $180,000 legal fees, ruling he caused 'the vast escalation of fees and costs.'
Hulk's relationship with daughter Brooke also soured, leading to years of estrangement. The family's turmoil was documented in the reality series and its spinoff Brooke Knows Best, which aired for two seasons after the original show ended.
