Robert Irwin reflects on his father’s legacy and how he embraces the Australian spirit on ‘Dancing With the Stars’

Robert Irwin It was three weeks before his dancing with the stars debuts far from the ostentatious dance floors of Hollywood. He was covered in mud in the Australian bush of Cape York Peninsula, sleeping on the floor of a tent surrounded by wildlife and, of course, hunting crocodiles.

“That’s the great part about being able to live here,” said the 21-year-old Australian. Travel + Leisure. “It’s very easy to go out in the middle of nowhere and forget everything. You feel part of something much bigger than yourself.”

But for the conservationist, the area has personal meaning: It was a place loved by his father Steve Irwin, who died 19 years ago this month when he was just two years old. “It’s where I feel their energy and their passion more than anywhere else,” Irwin said. He Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve there it protects 35 different ecosystems on 330,000 acres. “It’s a real privilege to be able to spend time there,” the proud son said before the trip. “But then I come straight off the crocodile research expedition, up to my neck in mud, and fly straight to Hollywood to dancing with the stars! “It’s going to be a culture shock.”

While he claimed he might not have any dancing skills in our pre-DWTS interview, he was excited to show off Australian passion. “We definitely have that dance culture, but we’re much less refined,” he said. “Every silly dance move probably came from us – my go-to was always the sprinkler!”

And he’s got some winning shoes to fill, like his sister Bindi Irwin she took home the Mirror Ball Trophy in 2015. “You could hear the excited screams from Australia when I told her I was going to do the show,” she said of her childhood goal of competing, having been there every step of Bindi’s journey. “The first thing he said was ‘make it yours,’ which stuck with me.”

Blazing his own path has been something Irwin has done his entire life, despite “being in front of the camera because it was literally the size of a loaf of bread.” Although he followed in his family’s footsteps as zoo manager for Australia ZooHe has also focused on photography (his Instagram account is @robertirwinphotography), and travels to advocate for the non-profit organization Irwin, Wildlife Warriors.

But this July he really went his own way and took his first solo ATV trip along the south coast of Queensland to New South Wales. “Travelling alone brings this new dynamic,” Irwin said, admitting that “it was a little daunting at first.”

Soon, he found his footing, visiting beaches, surfing, skateboarding, and hiking solo. At one point, he walked to a hidden beach and found no one there. “I remember going, you know what I’m going to do, absolutely nothing,” he said. “I’m not going to my next stop. I’m just going to spend the whole day parked here on this beach, watching the world go by.”

Embracing the “feeling of liberation”, he had a minor mishap on the trip when he stopped in Coffs Harbour. The pier pavilion for a salad. “Lots of lovely people wanted to say hello and take a photo,” which he happily accepted. “But I left in a bit of a hurry and completely forgot to pay!”

As honest as he was positive, Irwin turned around, only to discover that word had spread and every media outlet in town was waiting to see if he would return to pay up. “It was absolutely fun,” he said. “And I have to highlight their salad, which was great!”

Despite the minor setback, the solo trip was a throwback to the travels of his childhood. “If there was the option and the time to be able to travel by road somewhere instead of flying, we always jumped at the opportunity,” he said.

When he was four, the family drove from Adelaide to Darwin, stopping at Uluru on the way. “It was just the most wonderful moment of my life walking into the Red Center, where the dirt is red in the desert — it gets up your nose, into your pockets, everywhere,” he said. “The sunsets are like nothing you’ve ever seen, like the saturation has gone way up. It makes you feel like you’re at one with the natural world.”

And as he grew older, he also spent time traveling alone with Bindi. “It’s the coolest feeling when you start growing up and doing things on your own, you feel like you’re 10 feet tall,” Irwin said. “Having an older brother was like having a second mother. Bindi is only six years older, but she is very conscientious and a real caregiver. I could show my independence, but I also had almost a father figure who was like, ‘Now you have to brush your teeth!'” Still, she said the two always “have a lot of fun and rarely bother each other.”

While his relationship with Bindi has always been “very close”, he admitted he was “extremely jealous” when she filmed a documentary at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia, where he has yet to visit. “She was sending photos of her casually relaxing next to a whale shark, and I was internally screaming,” he said. “That’s definitely the next cab off the line for me!”

These days, family trips include Bindi’s four-year-old daughter Grace, such as a recent trip to Disneyland, where she was wowed by Princess Tiana. “It’s the best thing in the world to see your niece do all the things you used to do when you were a little girl,” Irwin said. “Grace has incredible energy; there’s a lot of dad’s genetics.”

In fact, those Irwin genes run deep, as he reflects on his father’s legacy. “He is the embodiment of passion, of living life 100 percent,” the television personality said. “If Australia was a person, he would be my dad. Loving wildlife, being passionate, having that spirit of camaraderie and camaraderie with everyone. He’s just a superhero to me.”

Young Irwin is undoubtedly his father’s mini-me, long an unofficial spokesman for his beloved home. Now it has partnered with Tourism Australia for the next chapter of its Come and Say G’day campaign, in the hope that more travelers will explore the “huge” continent. “People think it’s a small island nation, but it’s the same size as the 48 contiguous United States,” he said.

The gateway cities of Sydney and Melbourne are the perfect hubs to get acquainted with the Australian lifestyle and experience both the cafe culture and bustle of the city, he said. But for Irwin, it’s all about hitting the beaches of Sydney, where he always goes “straight for the surf.” He also recommends that adrenaline lovers go to the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb. Melbourne is all about “next level” food and wine.

But Irwin says “the real heart of Australia is when you go into the bush, whether it’s in the outback, in the north, in the rainforest, on the beaches or in the south, somewhere like Tasmania, to find these little hidden gems and connect with the locals, the people and the wildlife.”

There is no place dearer to him than Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, where he grew up within one of its most coveted attractions. Australia Zoojust five minutes from a volcanic mountain range and 15 minutes from the beach.

“I made every child’s dream come true: I literally grew up in the middle of a zoo,” he said. “It’s hard for me to even call it a zoo, it’s like a resort for wildlife and a center for conservation.” Set on hundreds of acres, his favorite spot is the kangaroo paddocks, especially watching “this amazing little relationship” develop between the young visitors and the “peaceful” animals. After hours of work, he often delights in “joining the roosters for a nap.”

Irwin is also proud of “beautiful, sustainable and environmentally focused luxury accommodation.” The crocodile hunter lodgewhich will open in 2022. In fact, while chatting with us from the lodge, he marveled when a wild kangaroo jumped towards the window. “He’s watching the interview; that’s absolutely classic,” he said, snapping a photo of the moment. “That’s the sign of a good zoo when the animals try to get in!”

But overall, for Irwin there is a sense of wonder at all things Australian. “Where I live is so much more than my home; it’s truly where my heart beats,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to travel to almost every corner of the planet. When you come back to Australia, you’re overcome with a feeling of warmth. There’s no other way to describe it.”