Carole Baskin’s Dancing with the Stars debut was interrupted by an advert demanding answers over the disappearance of her ex-husband.
The Tiger King star, who rose to fame on the Netflix docuseries earlier this year, danced to “Eye of the Tiger” in her first appearance on the US version of Strictly Come Dancing.
During the broadcast, an advert appeared in which the family of Don Lewis, Baskin’s ex-husband, declared their intention to reward $100,000 (£80,000) to any individual with answers about his disappearance.
Lewis went missing in 1997, and he was declared legally dead in 2002 despite a body never being found. Throughout Tiger King, which charted the rivalry between animal rights campaigner Baskin and the zoo owner Joe Exotic, individuals accused Baskin of killing Lewis and feeding his body to tigers.
Baskin has repeatedly denied the claims, for which she has never been charged.
Lewis’s three daughters, Gale, Lynda and Donna, appear in the new advert, along with Lewis’s former assistant.
John M Phillips, the family’s attorney, says that Lewis’s family “deserves answers and they deserve justice”, adding: “Do you know who did this or whether Carole Baskin was involved?”
In March, authorities in Florida announced that they were seeking new leads in Lewis’s disappearance.
In early September, a new witness came forward with possible information about the night Lewis went missing.
