You may not know this, but Robert is the son of that Steve Irwin that made us all fall in love with the zoo and animal videos all over again.
Following in his father’s footsteps, he’s wrestled crocodiles, handled snakes, and generally made sure that the animals at his zoo are living their best life. Yup, if I was a koala, I’d want Robert Irwin to hold me too.
Anyhow, the 21-year-old Australian conservationist decided to switch up his scenery by traveling to the US to compete in the 34th season of Dancing With the Stars. There, he candidly told us how he’s managing the death of his father over a decade on.
Robert Irwin Wants To “Celebrate the Person” His Father Was
When it comes to grief, we process it in our own different ways, and for Robert, some days are still “so bloody hard.”
“There’s no grief journey that’s easy and there’s no grief journey that’s the same as the other. But for me to be able to celebrate my dad, to celebrate the person he is, to continue what he loved is the honor of a lifetime,” he said on The Viall Files, whilst sitting next to his dance partner Witney Carson.
“I do that with such pride,” he added. “… And I really hope what we all do with a platform is to try and say it’s okay. It’s okay when life’s hard. It’s okay to be vulnerable. And it’s okay sometimes for some days to just be too much. And to just try and keep that light in your heart, try and find the people that lift you up and just lift each other up.”
Steve Irwin died in 2006 at the age of 44 after being pierced by a stingray barb whilst filming in Australia.
“It’s so powerful because you realize none of us are doing this alone,” Robert continued. “We’ve all experienced that in some way and we all will have to be there for each other.”
Robert has really been holding a torch to his father’s storied life by following in his footsteps. When it comes to animals, whether it’s a screaming armadillo, an African dwarf crocodile or red-tailed boa, Robert is all over the case.
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