Joe Exotic’s husband says the Tiger King Netflix series was only interested in capturing his ‘eccentric’ side - and that there’s more to his personality.
Dillon Passage, 22, appeared on ITV’s This Morning today to claim that his incarcerated hubby is a different man when the cameras stop rolling.
The younger husband of Joe - real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage - spoke to hosts Ruth Langsford and Eamonn Holmes via video link from his home in Florida.
Joe, 57, was convicted of a murder-for-hire plot against his exotic animal rival Carole Baskin in 2019 and is currently serving a 22-year sentence at Grady County Jail in Oklahoma.
Dillon said of Joe: “He's a pretty wild character, don't get me wrong. But the docu-series really showed his more eccentric sides. But behind the camera, Joe is really sweet and sensitive, he would have done anything to help anybody.
"The producers really wanted to get the point across that, yeah, he's opinionated, he's charismatic and that he doesn't really care what people think. But that's just really in front of the camera.
“He's very romantic, he's super sweet, he's sincere. Every morning he'd wake me up with a coffee and a bacon, egg and cheese croissant."
Dillon married the former exotic zoo owner in 2017 - just two months after Joe's husband Travis Maldonado shot himself in what was a tragic accident.
Travis was sitting in the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park and pulled the trigger on a gun that he believed would not fire without a clip.
Despite their speedy nuptials, Dillon says he plans to stick by Joe.
"I'm going to stay by Joe's side," he declared. "He was there for me, I'm not just going to abandon him – that would really show a lack of character on my part.
"He doesn't deserve to be in there that long, so I'm going to stick by his side until we figure out what's happening."
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am on ITV.
