Hulk Hogan reveals all - PART TWO

Clearwater, Florida – Talk to Hulk Hogan for a few minutes, and you'll see a man with a new lease on life.

He says he's been forced into change, and it's been good for him.

“I'm real bad by myself. I need someone around. I'm not good by myself, and that's a bad thing. I'm learning to get better with that,” Hogan told us during a one-on-one interview early Thursday morning at the Marriott San Key in Clearwater.

Hogan talked in detail about his new “single” status and ex-wife Linda Bollea.

“It's hard when your wife has filed for divorce, and you're not divorced yet. And, you're tired of being by yourself every single day,” Hogan said.

The 55-year-old says he was shocked when Linda filed divorce papers and left him with stinging last words.

Hulk says Linda told him, "I never want to see you, be with you, be in love with you, with you again.”

He says he took her seriously and immediately switched into survival mode, even though he was hurt. He says he had to cope quickly for the sake of his kids.

It was the way he found out about the divorce that really stung, Hogan says.

He was standing before a live audience at the start of his show, American Gladiators, when his attorney called and broke the news.

“I didn't know if I would faint, puke, took a couple of moments, I turned around and looked back at the camera, and said, welcome to American Gladiators, do you want to live forever? I had to regroup.”

Hogan says it's not easy to watch his wife date a 19-year-old, not because he's jealous, but because it's making his kids uncomfortable.

“As far as my wife dating a 19-year-old, I don't condone it. Brooke is very, very upset by it.”

The longtime Floridian is finally at the point in his life where he's starting to have fun with a companion of his own, a woman more than 20 years younger that he met a health food store.

He loves her looks, but more than that he says, her positive attitude.

Tampa Bay's 10 News Reporter Melanie Brooks asked, “What is it like to date Hulk Hogan?”

The former wrestler chuckled, and hid his face, “Oh, God, stop!”

Brooks asked, “How is your relationship now? Are you happy?”

Hogan responded, “It's different to be around someone who doesn't drink, doesn't cuss?”

While Hogan is enjoying his newfound happiness, he says one thing he's tired of, is the court battles with his wife. He wants that to end.

“To burn up all this money and have the divorce lawyers churning the clock, all this money that we saved for our children, burning up all this money that we could help john Graziano with, with a life plan, is insane. There's no rationale anymore. They're relentless.”

What he is trying to do is live out a dream that finally came true.

“My dream in high school, when I was going to Robinson high school was to own a house on a the beach, now I have an apartment on the beach.”

Hogan is also living close to the Pinellas County jail to see son, Nick, especially when it comes to the teenager's 18^th birthday, which is Sunday.

Hogan's is two weeks after that on August 11^th. The single father says he and Nick are waiting to officially celebrate their birthdays together when the teen gets out of jail in a few months.

A day he prays for each night.

“Life is good, it really is, you know!”

Clearwater, Florida – There's one thing Hulk Hogan loves to talk about more than anything else – his kids.

Brooke and Nick are the loves of his life, says the former wrestler. They are the reasons he stayed in what he calls a bad marriage for so long.

Hogan says his marriage to Linda Bollea should have ended after three years saying, I think the first few years we were cool, for me, I hung in there forever because of the kids, some people say that's the wrong thing to do.

That's just one of many insights offered by Hogan, as he shared details of his life as a single father, with 10 News Reporter Melanie Brooks, during a rare, one-on-one interview where no topic was off-limits. The former wrestler smiled, teared-up, joked, laughed and pondered over his past, present and uncertain future.

He says his fans know the real him, and that this interview was his chance to tell his side of the story and answer in-depth questions, after being followed relentlessly by the press during a nasty divorce and a case involving his son, Nick, who sits behind bars in the Pinellas County jail.

In fact, jail tapes containing a personal conversation between Hogan and Nick, ignited a firestorm that he defended during an interview at the Marriott Sand Key in Clearwater Wednesday morning.

For the first time, Hogan offered a heartfelt apology to his fans, as well as his enemies.

Am I sorry the tapes were released? Yes. Do I apologize? Yes. Did I say things with an edge? Yes. Did I say things incorrectly? Yes. Are you sad that the media construed that as a mean spirit or callous spirit that didn't exist. The public has a hot and cold button. They know me, Hogan says.

On the tapes, Hogan is heard discussing John Graziano, after an accident that left the former Marine hospitalized in critical condition.

Hogan is quoted as saying, Well, I don't know what type of person John was, or what he did to get himself in this situation, I know he was pretty aggressive and he used to yell at people and he used to do stuff, but for some reason God laid some heavy s—t on that kid, man. I don't know what he was into.

It is the spirit of the apology that Hogan says has changed his life. He is learning to accept the harsh truth about what is happening around him. If there is truly a calm in the midst of a storm, he says, he's found it.

I kept hearing Willie Nelson say in my head, Hogan, you're a survivor. You ride the highs and survive the lows. I'm surfing, surviving the low.

There have certainly been some lows in his life over the last few years, moments chronicled on the news, the web and gossip circles all over the world. It is a life where his wife left him, his son, Nick went to jail, and daughter Brooke took on the world of Hollywood and a career in music

Hogan says it's all good, and that he's learned from his mistakes. In fact, life couldn't be better.

This is the second half of the game. All the stuff you did in the first half that you might be proud of or ashamed of, or might have a residual effect on this very moment, forget that. That's the past.

A past that includes his ex-wife, Linda, of 23 years.

We asked him point blank, Why did your marriage end?

This was his frank answer, I think the marriage ended because we grew apart. I think the first few years we were cool, for me, I hung in there forever because of the kids, some people say that's the wrong thing to do.

Hogan calls Linda a negative force and a brow beater. Plus, he says, her new 19-year-old boyfriend is a disgrace, one that is destroying her relationship with daughter Brooke, who is currently not speaking to her mother.

It's such a weird scenario, a 50-year-old woman dating a 19-year-old boy. None of us understand it. It's really off the wall.

But, at the same time, he adds, he too is enjoying the company of a younger companion, a 33-year-old sharing his life and newfound happiness.

Happiness that he claims, he is ready to enjoy and accept as he enters the next phase of his life.