This week on The Sarah Scoop Show, Carole Baskin joined Sarah Ruhlman, host of the Sarah Scoop Show, to catch up on life after Tiger King.
Sarah got the scoop from Carole Baskin about Baskin's time on the hit reality show Dancing with the Stars.
Baskin Hits the Dance Floor
“It was a sin in the family I grew up in to dance, so I had zero dance experience,” says Baskin. When invited to the show, while she had never watched it before, Baskin hoped that she would be paired up with a “star” to promote her mission and sanctuary. The dancing show had a different idea in mind, where Baskin was meant to be the “star” of her dancing duo.
Luckily, Dancing with the Stars gave Baskin plenty of opportunities and airtime to convey her message about saving big cats to the program's large audience.
As a part of the deal to appear on the show, Baskin says that Dancing with the Stars "would allow me to use cat-themed songs, costumes, and I could talk about cats in the little promo pieces." When she was not on the dance floor, Baskin was advocating for her big cats.
Practice Makes Perfect?
Baskin says that dancing on the show “was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the show's contestants only had three hours of studio time a day, which wouldn't cut it if Baskin were to learn all her moves in time.
For additional practice time, Baskin utilized her large rented apartment space to continue learning the moves outside of the studio.
To practice each dance, Baskin would record her partner carrying out her moves and dance alongside the video playing on a television. "I was gonna practice every single second I could stand on my own two feet," says Baskin.
Baskin was determined to master her dance moves, but it proved to be very difficult for her. "I never needed to be that coordinated to do anything, you know? Riding a bike is about the limit of my coordination," joked Baskin.
The Final Results
Baskin only lasted three episodes on Dancing with the Stars before being eliminated. If the show did eliminations in the first episode, Baskin doesn't think she "would've made it past two."
While she did not receive the best scores from the judges, Baskin was happy that they at least acknowledged that she performed all her moves correctly.
Post-show, Baskin still maintains a great relationship with Dancing with the Stars. "I loved the people, they were absolutely amazing," says Baskin. "To this day we stay in touch, and they still send me all types of media opportunities."
Get the scoop on Carole Baskin and all things big cats by checking out this week’s episode of The Sarah Scoop Podcast.
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