Linda Hogan (TV personality)

{{Short description|American television personality (born 1959)}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Linda Hogan

|image = Linda Hogan.jpg

|caption = Hogan in 2007

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1959|08|24}}

|birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.

|birth_name = Linda Marie Claridge

|other_names =

|occupation = Television personality

|years_active = 1978–present

|spouse = {{marriage|Hulk Hogan|1983|July 28, 2009|end=div}}

|partner = Charley Hill (2008–2012)

|children = Brooke Hogan
Nick Hogan

|television = Hogan Knows Best (2005–2007)

}}

Linda Marie Claridge (born August 24, 1959), also known as Linda Hogan, is an American television personality who is the ex-wife of professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. She is best known for her role on the American reality television show Hogan Knows Best.

Early years

Claridge was raised Catholic and is of American, Australian, British and Irish descent. She is the older sister of actress Christie Claridge.Hogan, Linda. Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Against the Ropes. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. In 1977, she graduated from Chatsworth High School in California. She was a winning contestant on Match Game in 1978.{{cite AV media |date=May 22, 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWGYlJOv7rk |title=Match Game 78 (Episode 1333) (Linda "Hulk Hogan Ex-Wife" Wins with Charles) ($5,000) |publisher=MatchGameProductions |via=YouTube |access-date=October 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190820195205/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWGYlJOv7rk&gl=US&hl=en |archive-date=August 20, 2019 |url-status=live}}

Career

In 1995, Claridge appeared on Hulk Hogan's album Hulk Rules, where she sang back-up vocals along with The Wrestling Boot Band.Hulk Hogan. Hollywood Hulk Hogan (p.256) Claridge entered the spotlight in 2005 as "Linda Hogan", due to the VH1 reality show Hogan Knows Best. A 2005 documentary DVD on street racers, called Vehicular Lunatics, includes a segment with Claridge.{{cite news|url=http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c78966c5-7617-41c8-a049-87cc49532f5d |title=Linda Hogan appeared in a street racing DVD |date=November 20, 2007 |publisher=ABCActionNews.com |accessdate=November 21, 2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122132921/http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=c78966c5-7617-41c8-a049-87cc49532f5d |archivedate=November 22, 2007 }} Claridge wrote a book, Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Against the Ropes, which was published in 2011.{{cite news|last=McKay|first=Hollie|title=Linda Hogan's Shocking Allegations: I Was Afraid Drug-Addicted Hulk Would Kill Me|url=https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/linda-hogans-shocking-allegations-i-was-afraid-drug-addicted-hulk-would-kill-me/|date=July 11, 2011|access-date=November 29, 2014|website=Fox News|archive-date=January 1, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101222948/http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2011/07/19/linda-hogans-shocking-allegations-was-afraid-drug-addicted-hulk-would-kill-me/|url-status=live}} She appeared on the Season 3, episode 8 of Bar Rescue.

Personal life

Claridge met Terry Bollea, known professionally as Hulk Hogan, in a restaurant in Los Angeles. For nearly two years, the couple had a long-distance relationship mostly over the telephone.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} They married in 1983 in a wedding attended by André the Giant, Vince McMahon, and other wrestling personalities. They have two children together, Brooke (1988) and Nick (1990). Claridge filed for divorce from Hulk Hogan on November 20, 2007.[http://www.tmz.com/2007/11/23/hulk-and-wife-headed-for-divorce-court/ Hulk and Wife Headed for Divorce Court] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181129202054/http://www.tmz.com/2007/11/23/hulk-and-wife-headed-for-divorce-court/ |date=November 29, 2018 }}. November 23, 2007 TMZ.com. Accessed November 23, 2007. The divorce was finalized on July 28, 2009.{{Cite web|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2011/11/hulk-hogan-divorce-settlement-costly-details-linda-bollea/1|title = Details of Hulk Hogan's costly divorce become public}}{{cite web| url = https://people.com/celebrity/hulk-hogan-linda-bolleas-divorce-settled/amp/| title = Hulk Hogan & Linda Bollea's Divorce Settled {{!}} PEOPLE.com| access-date = July 1, 2017| archive-date = March 6, 2018| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180306143836/https://people.com/celebrity/hulk-hogan-linda-bolleas-divorce-settled/amp/| url-status = live}}{{Cite web|url = http://www.denverpost.com/2009/07/28/hulk-hogan-wife-settle-terms-of-divorce/|title = Hulk Hogan, wife settle terms of divorce|date = July 28, 2009|access-date = July 1, 2017|archive-date = March 6, 2018|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180306202743/https://www.denverpost.com/2009/07/28/hulk-hogan-wife-settle-terms-of-divorce/|url-status = live}}

Claridge received media attention for her relationship with a much younger man, Charlie Hill. Hill proposed to her on an episode of the VH1 reality television show Couples Therapy in 2012. They began dating in 2008, when Claridge was 48 and Hill was 19.{{cite web|url=http://abc7.com/archive/8663940/|title=Linda Hogan, 52, and Charlie Hill, 23, split|publisher=|accessdate=June 29, 2017|archive-date=July 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170721042900/http://abc7.com/archive/8663940/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/316477/linda-hogan-calls-off-cougar-engagement-to-fiance-charley-hill-after-great-therapy|title=Linda Hogan Calls Off Cougar Engagement to Fiancé Charley Hill After Great Therapy|date=May 15, 2012|publisher=|accessdate=June 29, 2017}}{{cite web|url=http://www.today.com/entertainment/hulks-ex-wife-linda-smashes-engagement-much-younger-fiance-775367|title=Hulk's ex-wife Linda smashes engagement to much-younger fiance|first=Gael Fashingbauer|last=Cooper|date=May 16, 2012|publisher=|accessdate=June 29, 2017|archive-date=August 6, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806144159/https://www.today.com/entertainment/hulks-ex-wife-linda-smashes-engagement-much-younger-fiance-775367|url-status=live}}

In October 2012, Claridge was arrested in Malibu, California, for driving under the influence, with an alcohol level of 0.084.{{Cite web|url=https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2012/10/05/linda-hogan-arrested-in-dui-hulk-hogan-threatens-to-sue-gawker-over-sex-tape/?outputType=amp|title=Linda Hogan arrested in DUI; Hulk Hogan threatens to sue Gawker over sex tape|access-date=September 16, 2020|archive-date=August 16, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220816223320/https://www.tampabay.com/archive/2012/10/05/linda-hogan-arrested-in-dui-hulk-hogan-threatens-to-sue-gawker-over-sex-tape/?outputType=amp|url-status=live}} She pleaded guilty to DUI. She was released several hours later after posting bail of $5,000.https://www.etonline.com/news/125639_Linda_Hogan_Arrested_for_DUI%3famp {{Dead link|date=February 2022}}{{cite web|url=http://www.tmz.com/2012/10/05/linda-hogan-arrested-dui/|title=Linda Hogan -- Arrested for DUI|website=TMZ|accessdate=June 29, 2017}}{{unreliable source?|certain=y|date=March 2018}}