Tiger King’s Carole Baskin could not make her Loose Women interview last week after a scheduling mishap, but sent her husband Howard to speak for her on Friday’s show.
Howard Baskin spoke about the horrifying effects the documentary had on their lives as the couple were forced to arm themselves with guns due to threats made.
But when quizzed on Joe Exotic’s release from prison over the murder to hire plot to kill Carole, Howard snapped and refused to speak about Joe, other than to say he deserved to rot in jail for killing tigers.
Asked by Jane Moore if the couple feared for their lives, Howard replied: “There has always been that issue dealing with these people.
“There were very serious threats from Joe trying to hire someone to kill Carole, so we ended up taking additional precautions, once the FBI told us about Joe’s efforts.
“We put on security around the house, we started carrying a pistol in our car, we would be watching to see if we were being followed.
“Looking around at the cars around you and when you park looking to see if anyone pulling in next to you.
Judi Love asked: “How do you feel about Joe Exotic now and are you concerned about him being released from prison?”
“I just don’t want to talk about him being released from prison, he belongs in prison,” said Howard.
“Forget the business about hiring someone to kill Carole.
“This is a man who walked up to five healthy tigers who trusted him and knew him, took a shotgun and blew their brains out.
“If anyone doesn’t think he belongs in jail for the rest of his life for that, they have my sympathy.”
Jane asked about the movement to get President Donald Trump to pardon Joe, and Howard cut in: “Could we move on to something else?
“Could we move on to something else?” he repeated sternly.
“Is that too distressing to talk about?” asked Judi, who was met with silence.
Christine Lampard took the reigns back and moved the conversation on to the Big Cat Rescue Sanctuary, and the awkwardness was eventually smoothed over.
* Loose Women airs weekdays on ITV at 12:30pm
