Tiger King star Carole Baskin has come out as bisexual and said she “could just as easily have a wife as a husband”.
The Big Cat Rescue CEO told PinkNews that growing up she felt she was “probably born into the wrong body” because she was such a “tomboy”.
Baskin, 59, said she first felt a connection to the LGBT community when she was engaged to a psychologist in the 1980s during the Aids crisis.
It was at this time she realised “I had just as equal feelings for women as I did for men”.
“I have always considered myself to be bisexual,” Baskin said. “Even though I’ve never had a wife, I could just as easily have a wife as a husband.
“As far as the way I feel about us, I think we are all one and I just don’t see us as being different genders or different colours or anything.”
Baskin has been married to husband Howard since 2004 and was previously married to millionaire businessman Don Lewis from 1991 to 2002, when he was declared legally dead.
Lewis disappeared in 1997 and his fate was the source of speculation during Netflix’s hugely popular Tiger King documentary series.
Baskin vehemently denies being involved. During the series, she was seen clashing with Joe Exotic, a gay big cat breeder who has been jailed for plotting to have Baskin killed.
Baskin, who was eliminated from Dancing With The Stars last month, was asked by PinkNews if Exotic was a good representative for the LGBT community.
“I think he’s an embarrassment to the human community,” she said.
“It’s not a matter of what your sexuality is, this man is just a deviant in the way that he treats human life and animal life.
“I think he’s a malignant narcissist, and that it’s all about him. It doesn’t have anything to do with any of the communities that he may associate himself with.”