Carole Baskin Reveals Her First DWTS Number Will Be 'Eye of the Tiger': 'I'm Very Excited'

Dancing with the Stars premieres Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC

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Published on September 11, 2020 09:27 AM

Hey, all you cool cats and kittens, Carole Baskin is revealing her first tiger-themed ballroom dance tune!

The Tiger King star, who is set to make her Dancing with the Stars debut on Monday, has revealed that she will be making her grand entrance on the popular ABC dancing series to Survivor’s classic song, "Eye of the Tiger" — a clear nod to the famed Netflix series she starred in. PEOPLE previously predicted that Baskin might choose the 1982 hit as her first performance song.

"I was just approved yesterday to release that we are doing 'Eye of the Tiger' so I'm very excited about that," she told reporters during a press conference on Wednesday, E! News reported.

The Big Cat Rescue founder also teased the outfit she will wear for her first night on the dance floor, saying that she gave costume designers instructions that "no fur, no feathers, no leather, and anything else," were to be used in her attire.

She also added that she doesn't care how "wild" they go, she just wants to "have a blast."

Baskin joins a slew of other famous faces competing for the famed mirrorball trophy on the upcoming season of DWTS, including Nelly, Selling Sunset's Chrishell Stause, Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir, former Bachelorette Kaitlyn Bristowe and The Real's Jeannie Mai, among many others.

During a recent chat with Extra, Baskin touched upon whether or not she believes her Tiger King rival, Joe Exotic — who is currently serving a 22-year prison sentence for hiring a hitman to kill her — will be watching her on DWTS.

"I sincerely doubt it," she told the outlet.

Baskin added that she hopes her time on the reality dancing competition series will change the public's perception of her and how they viewed her on the popular Netflix series.

"For me, it’s not what people think about me from Tiger King, even though I was grossly misportrayed as a villain, but what I am hoping people get from this is the message of what was missed in Tiger King, that the animals are being exploited and abused — and we need to stop that," she said.

Later in the Wednesday press conference, Baskin shared that she had been turning down numerous media opportunities after Tiger King premiered earlier this year, but it was her daughter who convinced her to consider joining DWTS.

"'Mom, you got to do this,'" she recalled her daughter telling her. "And so I contacted them and I thought what they would do to pair me with a star because I have never seen this show and didn't know how it worked."

"So once I found out how it actually worked I was even more mortified, but I wanted to do it for my daughter because she does so much for me," she added.

RELATED VIDEO: Tiger King's Carole Baskin Thinks 50 Percent of DWTS Fans Will Tune In 'To See Her Fail'

Baskin opened up in this week's issue of PEOPLE about her journey thus far on DWTS, the challenges that come with competing, and why she made the tough decision to leave her big cats and join the cast.

"It’s so much easier than I thought it would be,” Baskin said of her dance rehearsals. “When I first saw some clips on YouTube, I thought, 'There’s no way that I’m going to be able to do that, not in 100 years of training,' But now, I’m like, 'Dang! This could potentially work.'"

She added: "I feel like this is an opportunity to give light to big cats and remind people that they don’t belong in cages. I just keep telling myself that this is the best way to get the message out there. To be as good as I can so that I can stay on as long as I possibly can."

Dancing with the Stars premieres Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. ET on ABC.