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Joe Exotic’s Ex John Finlay Is Officially Married
He and his wife are now living on a farm in Oklahoma.
Netflix’s Tiger King made Joe Exotic’s name known across the country. But it also thrust numerous other people in Exotic’s orbit into the public eye — including his ex-husband John Finlay, who began working at Exotic’s G.W. Zoo in 2003 when he was 19 and later got involved with Exotic romantically.
In an interview with Variety not long after Tiger King’s release, Finlay explained why he decided to participate in the docuseries. “It wasn't about money or anything. It was a therapy thing for me because there was a lot of pent-up anger, rage, whatever you want to call it,” he said. “I'm not one to go see a counselor. I'm usually one to work things out myself.” Finlay has also clarified that he was never actually married to Exotic and that the infamous three-way wedding between him, Exotic, and Exotic’s other boyfriend Travis Maldonado that was featured in the show was just a publicity stunt.
Finlay told The Sun that he took issue with the series’ portrayal of him as a “drugged-up hillbilly,” explaining to Variety that he had been sober from drugs for six years by the time Tiger King aired in 2020. He added that he wished the series had shown more of the positive aspects of his time working at G.W. “They never showed what it was like to be around the animals or anything. They just focused on the drama,” he said. “The animals are what everyone was really there for. It wasn’t the human factors of it. The animals and the experience are what I’ve missed the most.”
These days, Finlay is married to a woman named Stormey (a different person from the mother of Finlay’s child, who was mentioned in Tiger King). The two live on a farm in Oklahoma, where Finlay spends his days working as a welder and tending to the horses and chickens on their farm. In a May 2021 interview with The Sun, Finlay called his wedding to Stormey “the happiest day of his life.” “It kept being delayed because of the pandemic, so in the end we said ‘screw it’ and went to the courthouse,” Finlay explained. “I didn’t want cameras there because it was only for us.” He also reiterated that the three-way wedding between him, Exotic, and Maldonado was fake, saying that his wedding to Stormey was his first legal marriage.
According to an August 2021 Instagram post, Stormey has now officially changed her last name to “Finlay” and the two appear to be as happy as ever. “Have to say I frigging love my wife Stormey,” Finlay captioned a photo of him and his wife. “This beautiful and incredible woman is stuck with this gator now. Love you, Stormey.”
Alongside another picture featuring the horses on his farm, Finlay wrote: “Love getting off work coming home to the ranch, seeing my incredibly supportive wife, and getting to look out the windows and seeing this. Life is good.”
Considering the heartbreaking fates of some of Exotic’s other past romantic partners, it’s especially nice to see Finlay doing so well and in love.
