1 hour ago
3
Robert Irwin has opened up about his ongoing connection with his father Steve Irwin, the famous “Crocodile Hunter” who died 20 years ago.
During an appearance on the CNN podcast All There Is with Anderson Cooper on Tuesday, the 22-year-old wildlife conservationist became emotional sharing that he still speaks with his late father, often asking him for advice.
“I’m always closest to dad when I’m in the middle of nowhere, you know, when I’m out in the bush,” he said, occasionally pausing to hold back tears. “There are absolutely moments where I’ll be hit with this sense of – it’s warmth, it’s like something kind of wraps around me … and I will absolutely sit and just say, ‘How do I go forward? How do you move forward?’”
Robert was just two years old when his father died in September 2006. Steve, host of the renowned series The Crocodile Hunter, was killed by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef near Port Douglas while filming a documentary. Robert said he is regularly asked about his father, making him a “constant thread” in his life. Being in the public eye, he admitted, made his grief journey slightly more complicated.
“Sometimes, one of the nicest things is to kind of just let it all go,” he said. “I let it all sort of pour out, and it feels like I’m kind of letting him in. And sometimes I just sit and go, ‘What’s next? How do I put one foot in front of the other?’ And there’s no answer, but it almost feels like there’s a resolution that comes out of that.
“You need to check in every now and again,” he continued. “There are these checkpoints that I find throughout life where you’re going through the motions, and then sometimes something will just hit you, and you need to just step away. You need to download, and you need to let loose. You need to go, ‘OK, I need to refocus on what is my grief journey.’”
Robert, who recently won the 34th season of Dancing with the Stars in the US, said he usually feels his father’s presence most strongly during his conservation projects, especially when working with crocodiles – a reptile Steve worked very closely with throughout his career.
He referenced a recent crocodile research expedition in Northern Australia, which Robert led for the first time. While tagging and releasing a 16-foot croc, it was revealed to Robert that his father had tagged the same reptile nearly 20 years earlier.
“We managed to use satellite technology to figure it out, and we caught him in the exact same spot that he did,” Robert said. “I’m laying on this croc and I feel his breath on my face. I’m looking at this guy, and he’s looking at me, and he’s probably thinking, ‘These bloody Irwins.’”
This was a moment of deep connection to his father, Robert said. “It felt like that was dad being like, ‘This is your first time leading the team. You’re on the right track. Here’s a little sign.’”
Certain items have also acted as “conduits” to his father, such as the motorbike Steve used to ride around Australia Zoo. Robert said he repaired it years after Steve’s death, and now rides it every day, just like his dad did.
“[That] repaired a lot of the pieces that were bringing me down, figuratively and literally,” he said.
Find out the next TV, streaming series and movies to add to your must-sees. Get The Watchlist delivered every Thursday.
