Carole Baskin's First DWTS Number Is—Wait for it—"Eye of the Tiger"

Only Carole Baskin could pull off a number to this song on Dancing With the Stars. Plus, find out how the Big Cat Rescue founder is preparing for her dancing debut.

By Lauren Piester, Alyssa Morin Sep 10, 2020 1:24 AMTags

Hey, all you cool cats and kittens...

Carole Baskin will soon show off her best moves on the upcoming season of the Dancing With the Stars. The Tiger King star and Big Cat Rescue founder plans to make a grand entrance, too.

Speaking to E! News and other reporters during a press conference on Sept. 9, Baskin spilled the tea on her first dancing number. Spoiler alert: It's purr-fect!

"I was just approved yesterday to release that we are doing 'Eye of the Tiger,' so I'm very excited about that," she shared.

While the Netflix sensation knows the song she'll shimmy to for her DWTS debut, she admitted that her outfit is another story.

"I'm actually sitting in my car outside of costuming right now. And I gave them the instructions that no fur, no feathers, no leather, and anything else," she explained, adding that she doesn't care how "wild" they go, she just wants to "have a blast."

"I can't wait to see what they come up with," she said.

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Dancing With the Stars Season 29 Celebrity Cast Portraits

Carole joins Selling Sunset's Chrishell Stause, Jesse Metcalfe, Bachelor Nation's Kaitlyn BristoweThe Real's Jeannie Mai and so many others. However, she almost didn't participate.

The Tiger King star revealed that she had been turning down media opportunities left and right after the Netflix series premiered. But it was her daughter who convinced her to rethink the ABC competition show.

"'Mom, you got to do this,'" she recalled her daughter telling her. "And so I contacted them and I thought what they would do to pair me with a star because I have never seen this show and didn't know how it worked."

She went on, "So once I found out how it actually worked I was even more mortified, but I wanted to do it for my daughter because she does so much for me."

ABC/Frank Ockenfels

Despite all of the fun she plans to have on DWTS, Carole said she hopes to put "cats in the spotlight."

"That's why I feel so much pressure to stay in this competition for as long as I possibly can," she expressed, adding, "Because every single week, I hope to be giving that message in front of people that these cats don't belong in cages, and we have to save them in the wild before they disappear completely."

Along with her message, Carole confessed that the feline animals are giving her plenty of dancing inspo. She put it best, saying, "Leopards gives me the most inspiration because they manage to do everything by using the absolute least amount of energy necessary to achieve their goals."

"When they kill an animal, they can pull an animal that's something like 10 times their weight up into a tree," she added. "And that way, they don't have to fight off lions and hyenas, so I really think the way the leopard moves is something I want to bring to the dance floor."

ABC/Frank Ockenfels

Carole will hit the stage to "Eye of the Tiger" on Monday, Sept. 14, when Dancing With the Stars premieres. Fans can tune in at 8 p.m. on ABC. 

For all of the latest updates on the upcoming season, click here.