With her own VH1 reality show premiering on July 13 and a follow-up to her 2006 debut album, Undiscovered, in the works, Brooke Hogan should be feeling on top of the world. But it’s hard to smile when your family is falling apart.

With her dad, superstar wrestler Hulk Hogan, and mom Linda embroiled in a bitter divorce since last November, Brooke, 20, was dealt another heartbreaking blow in May when younger brother Nick, 17, was sentenced to eight months in Florida’s Pinellas County Jail following an August 2007 car accident that left his passenger and friend, John Graziano, with permanent brain damage.

Sitting down with Life & Style for an interview, Brooke spoke candidly about her family’s ordeal and how she’s coping, especially now that she’s apart from her only sibling. “I’m up and down,” she admits. “It’s hard not seeing Nick.” She visits him three times a week, but with her parents not speaking, arrangements can be tricky — and painful. “Sometimes,” she says, “we just can’t handle being in the same space.”

Before things took a tragic turn, Brooke and her family seemed to live an idyllic life.

After meeting Linda at an LA restaurant in 1983 and marrying her two years later, Terry “Hulk Hogan” Bollea quickly became one of the most adored and financially successful heroes of the World Wrestling Federation. Brooke and Nick came along in 1988 and 1990, and their parents took them on the road while Hulk went city to city, bringing in millions while promoting his “Hulkamania” brand.

For more on the truth behind the Hogan family drama, pick up the latest issue of Life & Style, on newsstands now!