Tiger King’s John Finlay reveals he’s now six years sober after crippling meth addiction
TIGER King star John Finlay has revealed he is “six years clean” after a devastating addiction to meth.
John was married to the star of the Netflix documentary, Joe Exotic, and will appear in this weekend’s follow-up episode checking in with those whose lives were changed forever by Joe and his Oklahoma zoo.
Now John has spoken out about his portrayal in the seven-episode series, and admitted that it made him look like a “drugged-out hillbilly”.
“But at the time I did that, I was five years clean. I am now six years clean,” he said.
Speaking to People magazine, John added that he now wants to work with “the youth about drugs and abuse”.
“It’s time for me to take a negative and turn it into a positive,” he said.
“I used to have a lot of pent up negative thoughts and bad aura about myself. I just quit thinking about the past and the negative stuff that’s happened to me,” he added.
“It’s time to really think about the kids and my future and stuff and use this thing for something good not just to be, ‘Hey, I have a personal gain now. It’s all about me.’
“It’s not all about me. It’s about other people too.”
John was married to Joe – real name Joseph Maldonado-Passage – in 2014 as part of a throuple with new park employee, Travis Maldonado.
Their wedding was zoo-themed and they wore matching pink suits, however, his relationship with the pair fell apart soon after he left his job as President of the animal park in 2013.
John is now engaged to a woman named Stormey Sanders, who runs his Facebook fan page alongside him called called The Truth About John Finlay.
Tiger King is based on the incredible true story of Joe Exotic, a wildcat enthusiast who owned numerous tigers, lions and other large animals he kept at the G.W. Zoo in Oklahoma.
The series focuses not just on his bizarre behavior but also Joe’s undying hatred for animal rights activist Carole Baskin.
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His loathing for her takes a much darker turn when he pays a hitman to bump her off, and he is now serving 22 years in prison for the hit.
Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness is available to stream on Netflix now.
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