Cat's out of the bag: 'Tiger King' star Carole Baskin is getting her own TV show
Hey, all you cool cats and kittens!
A new unscripted series starring "Tiger King" breakout Carole Baskin and her husband, Howard Baskin, is in development at ITV. According to a Thursday report by Variety, the Thinkfactory Media project will follow the Big Cat Rescue owners as they hunt down and call out various entities engaging in animal abuse and exploitation.
"This is a chance for us to use our new platform to battle the everyday evils facing big cats and so many other animals," the Baskins told Variety in a joint statement. "Working with Thinkfactory on this show will help us further our life's mission, while bringing important stories and information to 'cool cats and kittens' across the country."
The series will allow the couple to continue their animal advocacy work as seen on the wild Netflix documentary "Tiger King," in which Carole Baskin endeavored to stop her arch nemesis, Joe Exotic, from abusing the big cats at his rival zoo.
Pouncing on her overnight "Tiger King" fame, ABC recently cast Carole Baskin in the 29th season of "Dancing With the Stars." The quirky cat lover made her highly anticipated ballroom debut earlier this week with a pasodoble to the tune of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger," drawing cheers from the crowd and abysmal scores from the judges.
During the Season 29 premiere, some local Florida channels aired a commercial seeking justice for Baskin's second husband, Don Lewis, who went missing in 1997 and was legally declared dead in 2002. Multiple parties, including Exotic, have accused Baskin of killing Lewis, an allegation she has denied. (Baskin has not been charged with anything related to the Lewis case.)
The animal-rights activist recently responded to the Lewis family's commercial, which asked viewers to report "if Carole Baskin was involved" in her husband's disappearance. Shortly after the "DWTS" premiere, she told TMZ she hopes the ad and her newfound "DWTS" fame will help the ongoing investigation.
A release date and title for the Baskins' forthcoming TV series have yet to be announced.
