Nicholas "Sixx" King is teaming up with Linda Hogan on Pink Paws for Life, which raises funds for pet-cancer cures.
Jenice Armstrong: Linda Hogan's hero: A sense of purpose
WITH THE MESSY divorce from pro-wrestling icon Hulk Hogan finally behind her, Linda Hogan has more time on those expertly manicured hands of hers.
Not that she's lonely. Linda, who turns 50 later this month, is romantically involved with a 20-year-old former classmate of her daughter's. Call her a cougar if you want - she won't mind. Hogan is enjoying the freedom of having raised her kids and being on her own again after being married 24 years.
Not that there haven't been dark moments, particularly after the imprisonment of her son, Nick, who was involved in a drunken-driving accident. Her daughter, Brooke, was busy with her singing career, and her ex-husband with his girlfriend. Linda remembers once going into her home and falling on her knees in grief.
"I had left myself with no girlfriends, no career. My family was my life. I was so lost," she told me when she dropped by the Daily News yesterday. "A lot of our married friends sided with Hulk Hogan . . . I was really lonely.
"If I came away with anything, it would be that you can lose yourself to your kids and your husband and you can't really forget about yourself."
So, when she got a call from Nicholas "Sixx" King, a Daily News Sexy Single, asking her to lend her celebrity to Pink Paws for Life (pinkpawsforlife.org), which raises funds to combat pet cancer, she didn't hesitate.
"When he called, I said, 'This is so ironic. My dog was just diagnosed with cancer.' "
King, a producer who once represented Brooke, said: "If I came at the right time, it was because she was waiting for the next chapter of her life."
King, whose reality-TV show "Chasing Hollywood" was recently picked up by Comedy Central, founded Pink Paws after his own pet, Max, was diagnosed with cancer. King had purchased the teacup Yorkshire Terrier as a surprise for a live-in girlfriend, who wound up surprising him by moving out of their apartment unexpectedly.
"I got the dog and I bring the dog home, and I get there and the next thing you know, the lights go off. The lights were in her name," King recalled.
He found himself alone in their space with nothing except for the dog, to which he quickly became attached. Max died three years ago. So, he and Linda share the bond of having had a beloved animal in their lives suffer from cancer.
"He has diabetes and cancer," Linda said of her Jack Russell terrier, Muscles. "He still wags his little tail at me everyday."
On Sunday, Pink Paws will host a 5K Walk Against Pet Cancer on Kelly Drive, starting at Lloyd Hall. Registration begins at 7 a.m.; walk starts at 9 a.m. (Registration is $35.) The event is the first of four walks scheduled for major cities around the country.
"I'll be signing autographs and taking pictures for the people who register," Linda said. "I'm hoping to see this thing grow by leaps and bounds."
King wants to do for pet-cancer research what the Susan G. Komen Foundation has done for breast cancer.
As for what's next for Linda, the future is wide open. She hasn't ruled out the possibility of a mother-daughter reality-TV show with Brooke, who, she says, she's back on good terms with after a public falling-out. "We could go guy hunting together."
Linda added, "I'm really open-minded to anything."
Send e-mail to heyjen@phillynews.com. My blog: http://go.philly.com/heyjen.
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