Louis Theroux to make a new documentary about Tiger King's Joe Exotic

Louis Theroux met Joe Exotic 10 years ago while he was filming his series America’s Most Dangerous Pets.

Joe Exotic has risen to fame with the biggest documentary series of 2020, Netflix's Tiger King: Murder, Madness, and Mayhem. However, Theroux first interviewed him back in 2011.

Theroux first met Joe Exotic for his series America's Most Dangerous Pets. However, as the Netflix show uncovered, Exotic is now serving a 22-year prison sentence after being found guilty of a murder-for-hire plot and multiple animal cruelty charges.

Now, the BBC documentary maker is returning to Oklahoma to revisit the Tiger King for a new feature-length film and explore what exactly happened since. It has the working title Louis Theroux: The Cult of Joe Exotic and will air on BBC Two.

"This is one of those quintessentially American stories, taking place in the heartland of Oklahoma, with a cast of characters almost too colourful and larger-than-life to be believed," Theroux said.

"I spent eight or nine days filming at the park back in 2011, over the course of three separate visits. I'd forgotten how much we shot until I went back into the footage during lockdown.

"It's extraordinary how much was there. Since then the story just got stranger and bigger, and in going back at the end of last year I uncovered a real-life drama that took me in directions I never could have expected."

Clare Sillery, head of commissioning, documentaries, history, and religion at the BBC, said: “In this follow-up to Louis’ revelatory first-look at the life of Joe Exotic in America’s Most Dangerous Pets, viewers will be taken even more deeply into the weird world of one of America’s most notorious figures.

“This feature-length special will be full to the brim with never-before-seen footage and brand new interviews with those on all sides of the Joe Exotic story.”