'Dancing with the Stars': Carole Baskin not coming back for the finale after getting eliminated, here's why
'Dancing with the Stars' finale episode is about to air on ABC. As is a tradition for most reality shows, all eliminated contestants will be seen returning on the finale night to cheer on the finalists. Season 29 began with 15 celebrity contestants with their pro-dancer partners out of which Justina Machado, Nev Schulman, Nelly and Kaitlyn Bristowe remain standing in the competition. While the rest of the 10 booted celebs will be making a return, Carole Baskin has decided that she would be giving the finale a miss.
She was the second contestant to be eliminated from the show, right after Vernon Davis. Baskin was possibly the most controversial celebrity on Season 29's lineup and her participation was met with a lot of opposition. Her ex-husband Don Lewis' (who was declared dead a couple of years ago after going missing without a trace for years ago) family bought ad space during the premiere episode of the season to redirect attention to his case. As first reported by TMZ, Don Lewis’ daughters Gale, Lynda and Donna, along with his former assistant Anne McQueen, appeared in the spot, which offered a $100,000 reward for information about his disappearance in 1997 while living in Florida and married to Baskin at that time.
To add to that, a petition was launched on Change.org by a fan to get Baskin off the show. "Carole Baskin, who rose to fame after appearing on Netflix's hit show Tiger King, has been a person of interest in the ongoing investigation of the disappearance of her ex-husband and is now being cast for the 2020 season of Dancing With The Stars. Someone who is a person of interest in a crime like this shouldn't be paraded on a show like 'Dancing With The Stars' until her name is cleared once and for all! " read the petition.
However, none of this ever seemed to affect Baskin. She came on to the show with a big grin and she continued to do so during all her performances despite the opposition as well as the ad but people would not be able to witness her smile on the show again. The ''Tiger King star is currently back to work with her Big Cats Rescue animal sanctuary in Florida and she will not be traveling due to Covid-19 restrictions, according to ET. She might not return but she's already taken a guess for who's going to win the show. "I've thought from the beginning that Nelly would take home the mirrorball," she predicted, in one of her guest 'DWTS' blogs for the outlet. "Everyone brings different talents to their performances though, so I could end up being surprised by the end of the season." she'd said.