Brooke Hogan is one of ten celebrities set to compete with The Challenge vets on an all new season of The Challenge: Champs Vs. Stars, premiering April 17. This won’t be Brooke’s first foray into reality television, though — she and her family starred on the VH1 show, Hogan Knows Best, from 2005 until 2007, and then Brooke got her own spinoff, Brooke Knows Best, which aired from 2008-2009. All those years on-camera did nothing to prepare the 29-year-old for what she eventually faced on The Challenge, though!
“This was like being thrown into the lion’s den!” she tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “It was different. If my mom got mad at me or grounded me, I know she’s still my mom. These people [on The Challenge] — if they hate you….they hate you. It really rocked me because I hadn’t been in a dramatic situation in such a long time and it kind of ruffled my feathers. I had a full-blown panic attack.” As seen in the Champs Vs. Stars trailer, Brooke is at the center of some drama on this season of the show, and it even brings her to tears at one point in the sneak peek footage.
“It was insane,” she admits. “If I picture whatever would be classified as a super dramatic reality show, this was it. It was a hell of a roller coaster for me. This just knocked me off my game for a minute. It’s hard because you have to sit there and help each other [in challenges] and you have to be teammates, but it’s awkward because you’re like…okay, this person hasn’t even looked at me all day, and now I need their help.”
Brooke admittedly didn’t watch The Challenge much before she signed up for the show, and there was a lot she wasn’t prepared for. “I didn’t really know the rules or politics of it,” she says. “In real life, I’m not good at politicking. I wear my heart on my sleeve and I am who I am.”
We’ll have to see how she handles it as the show airs on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. on MTV!