Dancing with the Starsjust might feature its most controversial celebrity contestant yet, asTiger Kingstar Carole Baskin is reportedly in talks to join the next season of the reality competition series. Of course, we all know Baskin best as the big cat owner featured in Netflix’sTiger Kingdocumentary series because of her years-long feud with Joe Exotic. With Joe now in prison, Baskin just might be moving on to her next reality series if she ends up signing on forDancing With the Stars.
According to E! News, Baskin is in talks to compete on season 29 ofDancing With the Starsalong withSelling Sunsetstar Chrishell Stause, Emmy-nominated actress Anne Heche, and Backstreet Boys singer AJ McLean. All names are said to be “close” to being confirmed. Reports also suggest Dr. Anthony Fauci was approached about a potential spot on the next season ofDancing With the Stars, though he declined to participate. That seems to be unfortunate as a dance-off betweenCarole Baskinand Fauci towards the end of the year would be a great way of capping off the bizarre year that has been 2020.
So far, the nextDancing With the Starsseason has confirmed only one participant. Kaitlyn Bristowe, a former Bachelorette seen on the reality dating showsThe BachelorandThe Bachelorette, has joined the series following an invitation from Chris Harrison. It has also been reported that the full cast is set to be revealed on the Wednesday, Sept. 2 edition ofGood Morning America. Until then, ABC will not confirm nor deny any of the rumored names for season 29.
WhenDancing With the Starsreturns, it will also be looking very different, as the series had cut loose its longtime hosts. Earlier this year, bothTom Bergeron and Erin Andrewswere fired unexpectedly, even though the former had been there since the show’s inception and had even won an Emmy for his work. It has since been reported thatTyra Banks has stepped inas the newDancing With the Starshost. Banks comes in with many years of hosting experience following the 24-season run ofAmerica’s Next Top Model.
While the celebrity guests have yet to be officially revealed by ABC, the list of pros has been named. This includes married couples Jenna Johnson and Val Chmerkovskiy; Sasha Farber and Emma Slater; and Pasha Pashkov and Danielle Karagach. Also set to join the show as the first Black female pro is Britt Stewart, along with Artem Chigvintsev, Brandon Armstrong, Sharna Burgess, Cheryl Burke, Keo Motsepe, Peta Murgatroyd, Gleb Savchenko, and reigning champ Alan Bersten.
Meanwhile, maybe Baskin could use herDancing With the Starspayout to help out with her expected legal expenses. The daughters of her missing ex-husband, Don Lewis, have filed a lawsuit against the Big Cat Rescue founder with the hopes of finding out more information about what happened to their father. ManyTiger Kingviewers suspect Baskin was somehow involved with Don’s disappearance, but without any evidence of her guilt, she has never been charged with a crime. In any case, her appearance onDancing With the Starsis bound to be controversial.
