Antin – named Sexiest Veterinarian Alive by People magazine – dodged the modeling issue, and said animals have always been his passion, his first pet being a bunny named Paco.
Animal Planet SVP Erin Wanner, however, who knew a good thing when she heard it, was not going to let the whole "hot vet" thing pass.
"We thought the same thing," she confessed of their first Antin sighting on Instagram.
"We love his passion," she said.
Evan Goes Wild premieres Sunday, February 24.
The conceit of Antin's first television series is that he's chasing his wildlife bucket list. That includes swimming alongside humpback whales in Tahiti, exploring caves with bats and snakes in the Philippines, and tangling with crocs in the Yucatan.
Antin, who said he "grew up with Steve Irwin's legacy," spoke about his extensive travels through Australia, insisting poisonous animals are "not trying to kill you" and "are far more afraid of us than we are of them." TCA veterans remembering similar remarks from the late Irwin might have been a bit uncomfortable, even with Antin insisting that the critics had a better chance of dying from a human or dog bite than from a shark.