Tiger King’s Carole Baskin to join Dancing with the Stars: ‘Get ready, you cool cats and kittens’

Reality star also condemned her ‘nightmare’ portrayal on the Netflix series: ‘Tiger King villainised me for trying to stop animal abuse’

Tiger King’s Carole Baskin is to join the next season of Dancing with the Stars, and has said she hopes it will fix the “nightmare” of her portrayal on the Netflix hit.

Baskin rose to fame earlier this year on the inescapable docuseries, which chronicled her long-time feud with zoo owner Joe Exotic.

Exotic is currently serving 22 years in prison after being convicted in 2019 of trying to hire a hitman to kill Baskin, as well as numerous animal abuse charges.

Baskin, an animal rights activist and owner of the Big Cat Rescue sanctuary, will participate in the new season of the dance competition, in her first major TV role since Tiger King.

In an announcement video on US news show Good Morning America, Baskin was seen dancing with a plush tiger toy, and expressed her excitement at joining the US version of Strictly Come Dancing. “Get ready, you cool cats and kittens,” Baskin says.

In a separate interview, she condemned Tiger King for “villainising” her.

“Tiger King really glamourised animal abusers and villainised me for trying to stop animal abuse, so I felt really betrayed by that,” she said. “But what amazed me was how many people believed that false portrayal of me without doing anything to find out who I really am, so it’s been a nightmare since Tiger King aired.

“The biggest thing for me is that the longer my partner and I can stay in the running and in the competition, it will keep the cats forefront in the viewer’s eye and that for me was where Tiger King missed the bar,” she added.

Carole Baskin dances ahead of her participation in ‘Dancing with the Stars’ (ABC)

Also taking to the dancefloor for the show’s 29th season are actor Anne Heche, who recently made headlines for talking about the “mean” allegations engulfing ex-girlfriend Ellen DeGeneres, Desperate Housewives star Jesse Metcalfe and Backstreet Boy AJ McLean.

One Day at a Time actor Justina Machado, “Hot in Herre” rapper Nelly, Disney star Skai Jackson, Selling Sunset cast member Chrishell Staus, Catfish co-presenter Nev Schulman and Olympian Johnny Weir are also competing on the series.

Baskin has become one of 2020’s most recognisable reality stars, with her story about to be turned into a dramatic limited series starring Kate McKinnon.

She was also embroiled in a feud with rapper Cardi B, after Baskin slammed the star’s “lurid” single “WAP” for its use of wild animals in its video.