Joe Exotic and Dillon Passage decide to stay married

Joe Exotic and Dillon Passage have "decided to stay married".

The Tiger King star and his 22-year-old husband's relationship was on the rocks in March, when Dillon wrote on Instagram that he was "seeking a divorce" after three years of marriage, but Joe has now insisted they're trying to make their romance work.

The 58-year-old former zoo operator - who is currently serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison after being convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse and two counts of attempted murder for hire - shared: "You know, I talk to Dillon three times a day on the telephone, and we love each other very much.

"He has been out there alone for two and half years because the first six months he lived in a car because we lost our house. The guy has been through hell and he has stood by my side the entire time and we were talking about a divorce a few weeks ago so he could move on and we talked about it some more and we decided to stay married."

Despite this, Joe - who rose to international prominence when he appeared in Netflix's documentary series Tiger King - would understand if his husband decided to walk away from their relationship.

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He conceded that he can't expect Dillon to "hang on forever".

He told Entertainment Tonight: "You know, if he needs to move on I have to respect that, I can't expect him to just hang on forever. 

"He has told me time and time again ... if I make it out of here alive, I still have a home to come to. So, he said he is not going anywhere, all right? That is all I can say because that is all I know."