Brooke Hogan, daughter of wrestler Hulk Hogan, admits it's been difficult dealing with her parents' bitter divorce and her brother Nick's jail sentence, but she doesn't blame reality television and their newfound fame for their downfall. "There's no physical way that a guy standing there with a camera can ruin a family. It's usually something that's been going on for a while — something that lies beneath — and it just ends up coming out because of the stress," says Brooke, who is currently starring in her own VH-1 series, "Brooke Knows Best."

However, more drama has ensued in Brooke's personal life than the 20-year-old could have ever predicted — like her 48-year-old mother dating one of her former schoolmates. Over lunch near her L.A. digs, Brooke admits, "I saw the divorce coming because they were miserable. But I didn't see the 19-year-old kid coming into the picture, and I definitely didn't see the divorce being this nasty, and how certain people — not going to mention whom — choose to bring their kids in on the divorce and use them as stepping stones. It's not cool, and it's not my dad." Good thing she didn't tell us who!

Her mom's dating decisions have been partly to blame for a strain in the mother-daughter relationship. "I don't condone that kind of behavior. I think it's ridiculous. Right now I'm not really even talking to my mom," reveals Brooke, who at first had to make a point of keeping her parents apart. "At the time it was hard because they didn't want to see each other, and they both wanted to be with me so I had to balance it, but I don't have to do the separating anymore."

MEANWHILE: Brooke tells us she's putting her energy into more productive matters — like her music. "I've got half of my album done, and I want it to come out around the time the second season of ‘Brooke Knows Best' comes out." However, she's no longer associated with mega music producer Scott Storch, who has been having his own legal trouble. "I'm not working with Scott because Scott needs to work on staying out of prison."

SHE'S GOT SKILLS: Former celebrity hoofer Stacey Keibler says everything she learned during her "Dancing with the Stars" and World Championship Wrestling days made it a breeze training to be the sword-wielding bad babe she plays in NBC's upcoming "Samurai Girl" miniseries.

"I did all my own stunts, and I had just an amazing time," says the gorgeous Keibler, who just wrapped shooting the six-hour mini that airs Sept. 5-7. "I got there early, and I was taught martial arts and to use the sword for a while before we even got into any of the choreography. Every day I wasn't working, I was training, but for me it came very naturally with my wrestling background and dancing."

Keibler — who plays the nemesis of "Samurai Girl" lead Jamie Chung in the small- screen adaptation of the popular young adult novels — adds of her experience, "I actually had a big revelation when I was there. I really love the action stuff, and I'd really love to do more of it because it was very easy and like second nature for me."

THE VIDEOLAND VIEW: Robert Patrick reports his Col. Thomas Ryan character on CBS's "The Unit" is in for trouble at the start of Season 4 of the show that lifts the veil on military special operations from the field and the political realm. "Some of the stuff I've done in the past is going to come into play pretty quick. Some of the things that I shouldn't have been doing are going to come back to haunt me," says Patrick. Given the officer's complex and shadowy world, his indulgence in skullduggery and his illicit affair with the hapless Tiffy Gerhardt (Abby Brammell), that could mean a number of different things. Patrick also notes, "The men are going to be under stress right away" in the new season, and "There are a lot of things happening on the home front."

UP-UP-UP AND COMER: Vivacious and ultra-energetic teenage actress Meaghan Jette Martin, who's become a household face in tweendom thanks to her role as catty, bratty Tess Tyler in "Camp Rock," isn't wasting any time capitalizing on her wave of fame. She serves as Online Host of the Disney Channel Games getting underway Sunday (7/27). And, "I'm working on an album — like everybody else in the world. It's been a lot of fun doing that because I've been singing all my life, practically," the 16-year-old tells us. "And it's a way to show people who I am, 'cause when you're acting, you're always a character and, finally, like everybody else, I'll get to express myself. I write my own lyrics. I'm really big on that. And I'm really big about singing live — like, that's really a part of me. I'm a huge theater/Broadway fan, so live singing is what I'm all about." Martin says she's going for a "pop/rock vibe. I wish I could go for the show tunes vibe, but I don't think anybody would buy it except for the musical theater nerds."

With reports by Stephanie DuBois and Emily Feimster.

To find out more about Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith and read their past columns, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 MARILYN BECK AND STACY JENEL SMITH

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