Tiger King star announces prison engagement

The 61-year-old, whose real name is Joseph Maldonado, revealed on X that he plans to marry 33-year-old Jorge Marquez.

"He is so amazing and is from Mexico," he wrote. "Now, the quest of getting married in prison and getting him asylum or we [will] be leaving America when we both get out.

"Either way, I wish I would have met him long ago."

Exotic rose to fame on the hit Netflix documentary series Tiger King, which followed the rivalry between his zoo and a big cat sanctuary run by Carole Baskin.

He is serving a 21-year prison sentence after trying to hire two different men to kill Baskin, who had accused him of treating his animals poorly.

Prosecutors said Exotic had offered $10,000 to an undercover FBI agent to kill his rival, telling them: "Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off."

Exotic has always denied the accusations, and his lawyers said he was not being serious.

The 61-year-old was also convicted of killing five tigers, selling tiger cubs and falsifying wildlife records.

His zoo in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, has since closed down.

Exotic is reported to have said he has submitted a marriage application to the federal prison to wed Mr Marquez.

Exotic famously had an unofficial three-way marriage with long-time partner John Finlay and then 19-year-old Travis Maldonado. Mr Maldonado and Exotic later officially married in 2015, but Finlay became estranged.

In October 2017, Mr Maldonado died from a self-inflicted, accidental gunshot wound.

Two months later, Exotic married Dillon Passage, but Passage later announced he was filing for divorce.

-SKY NEWS