Tiger King star Rick Kirkham has claimed Joe Exotic was terrified of big cats.
TV producer Rick - who filmed a reality show following Exotic for five years - has shone a light on the flamboyant Exotic "façade".
The journalist claimed the main star of the Netflix docuseries was terrified of tigers despite his huge involvement with the big cats.
In the docuseries, Exotic come across as a huge tiger lover as the zoo operator of Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park.
But journalist Rick said the zoo operator would only ever get into the cages if the tigers were blind or sedated.
He told Extra : "You were lured into this surreal world of Joe Exotic and he acted on camera like he ran the world, he wasn’t scared of anything...
"He was very scared of the tigers, very afraid. The ones he would get into the cages with were blind or sedated. It was all just a façade."
The reality television producer also exposed how the scenes were stage managed to create Exotic's illusion.
Rick claimed there was a trainer to hand because Exotic was so terrified.
He added: "What people don’t know is behind that chair was the actual trainer. Those weren’t [Joe’s] tigers.
"Those were someone else’s tigers that they could control and he was behind there with a gun and had the tigers chained, because Joe was terrified to get in cages with tigers."
It comes just as the jailbird was rushed to hospital after he could have contracted coronavirus in the Texas prison he has been serving his conviction.
Exotic was jailed for 22 years for two counts of murder-for-hire of Big Cat Rescue rival Carol Baskin and 17 charges of animal abuse.
The star has always maintained he was set up.
