ABC Carole Baskin
Carole Baskin was portrayed as a nemesis and possible murderer on Netflix’s “Tiger King,” the antagonist of the quirky Joe Exotic. Now, she’s hit prime time as a celebrity contestant on Dancing With the Stars. But who could her partner be?
Unconfirmed rumors suggest Baskin’s partner is Pasha Pashkov, but we’ll have to wait to know for sure. The celebrities and professional dance partners are announced during the show’s premiere. This season of DWTS airs Monday, September 14, 2020, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC.
Baskin joined DWTS to raise awareness for her mission of saving exotic cats. She is an animal rights activist and owner of Big Cat Rescue in Florida.
Here’s what you need to know:
Pasha Pashkov Is Carole Baskin’s Rumored Dancing With the Stars Partner
Dance Dish With KB‘s Kristyn Burtt, a DWTS blogger, shared some spoilers, including rumors and predictions of this year’s celebrity pairings. Her list pairs Carole Baskin with pro dancer Pasha Pashkov. While some of her predicted match-ups list evidence, she didn’t get into specifics about why she thinks Carole Baskin will be paired with Pasha Pashkov.
The confirmed celebrity dancers on this season’s DWTS are Brandon Armstrong, Alan Bersten, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Artem Chigvintsev, Val Chmerkovskiy, Sasha Farber, Jenna Johnson, Daniella Karagach, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Pasha Pashkov, Gleb Savchenko, Emma Slater, Britt Stewart. Baskin could be partnered with any of the pros, likely a male counterpart.
Paskov joined Dancing With the Stars on Season 28, along with his wife, pro dancer Daniella Karagach. He is a ballroom dancing champ who also appeared on NBC’s World of Dance.
Baskin told ET the rehearsals have “been fabulous.” She said she even practiced some moves with one of her colleagues, who is a professional dancer.
“The pros are amazing. They can teach anybody to dance if they can teach me to dance,” she shared. “It is a lot of work … I’m going to give it my all!”
Carole Baskin Revealed ‘Eye of the Tiger’ Will Be Her First Song on DWTS & She Hopes Producers Will Highlight Saving Big Cats
Carole Baskin agreed to jump into the spotlight on Dancing With the Stars and out of her comfort zone because she wanted to raise awareness to her mission of saving big cats, she said in an interview with ET. After Tiger King aired on Netflix, she had more than 190 media outlets contact her, but she turned most of them down. Baskin said she hopes Dancing With the Stars shines a light on the plight of big cats.
“There’s plenty of wrongs but this isn’t about me. This is about the cats and they were the real losers in Tiger King. There was [little] attention paid to what those cats go through. So I am really hoping that Dancing With the Stars will keep those cats first and foremost in the front of the viewers so that they are constantly thinking about those cats being in cages and being exploited so that we can change that and end the private possession and the cub handling,” she told ET. “In my case, I have always been strictly focused on protecting big cats and saving them in the wild,” she continued. “The editors of Tiger King chose not to focus on that part of what I do. I’m really hoping the editors of Dancing With the Stars do.”
Baskin also told ET she was able to pick her first song, and picked one with a tiger theme. She also hinted at the likelihood of an exotic wardrobe, although it seemed her signature items of flower crowns and bicycles won’t be making an appearance in her first dance.
“We are opening my act with ‘Eye of the Tiger,'” Baskin said. “It was my first choice. The people in wardrobe asked me what they could do and I told them to go just absolutely wild. So, I think you’re going to be as surprised as I am.”
“So far, no bicycle or flower crowns have been presented to me, but but I’d be happy to do that,” she added.
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