Brooke Hogan is speaking frankly about the affair that shattered her bond with her late father.
The 38-year-old singer and reality star said that her relationship with WWE legend Hulk Hogan, born Terry Bollea, was permanently altered after he slept with her close friend Christiane Plante in the late 2000s. The revelation came amid the collapse of his 24-year marriage to Brooke’s mother, Linda Hogan, and became public when Plante confirmed the relationship to media outlets in 2008.
“A major turning point came after he slept with my friend Christiane,” Brooke shared with the magazine. “I forgive people very easily — sometimes probably too easily — and I forgave him, but something between us changed afterward. I don’t think he ever related to me in quite the same way again.”
Plante had stated at the time that the romance began during a period when Terry and Linda had privately acknowledged their marriage was finished, though divorce papers had not yet been filed. The scandal devastated the household, and Linda and Hulk finalized their contentious divorce the following year in 2009.
Linda later spoke out on Good Morning America about the profound emotional toll the infidelities took on her self-worth, admitting she constantly questioned whether she was to blame for the split.
For Brooke, the aftermath of the high-profile divorce dismantled the sense of stability she had relied on during the peak of their hit reality series Hogan Knows Best.
“The entire family structure changed,” Brooke told the magazine. “Over time, things became increasingly complicated until eventually the relationship I had always believed could survive anything couldn’t survive what was happening around us anymore.”
She continued: “That’s probably the biggest thing I wish people understood about the Hogan family: Public perception reduces families into heroes and villains. Real families aren’t that simple.”
The wrestling icon passed away on July 24, at the age of 71 after suffering a heart attack at his Clearwater, Florida home. In the wake of his passing, Brooke paid an emotional tribute to him on social media, honoring the bond they shared while keeping their complicated history in perspective.
“My Dearest Daddy, You were my everything, and I will always be your girl,” she wrote at the time. “I am PROUD to be your daughter—for all the love, light, and goodness you brought into this world.”
Balancing her grief with honesty, Brooke made clear that time has allowed her to hold space for both love and past wounds: “I can love my father profoundly and still tell the truth about where he hurt me.”
