Robert Irwin has opened up about his late father Steve Irwin.
In an interview with People, the 21-year-old said his father’s memory burns bright with every mention of him.
“I feel as though I get a little part of him back in some way, in every conversation I have about him, or any new story I hear about him, or in any new photo that I haven’t seen before,” Robert said.
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The young zookeeper says he is lucky in that there is a lot of footage of his dad – who died in 2006 after being stung by a stingray while filming a documentary – that remains from his many TV shows, most famously The Crocodile Hunter (1997-2004).
“And all of a sudden, his memory just starts flooding back,” he said.
“So it’s weird that decades later, after losing someone when I was two years old, I almost have an even greater picture of the person he was.”
Despite losing his dad at such a young age, Robert said that as he grows older, he feels even closer to his father.
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“As I start to reach the same sort of milestones that he did as a young bloke growing up, I, yeah, I feel closer to him in a way,” adding that his father’s memory feels “omnipresent”.
“I think losing someone as important as him at such a young age solidified the idea that life is fragile,” he reflected.
“We don’t know what tomorrow holds, so you have to take calculated risks, you have to have fun, enjoy what you’re doing, and give everything 100 percent.
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“He is always in some way guiding me.”
The TV personality will also be taking after his sister Bindi Irwin, competing in the US version of Dancing With The Stars.
Bindi won the TV dance competition ten years ago, with Robert being inspired after seeing her at every live taping.
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Robert Irwin recreates poignant childhood photo in dad’s ute
immediately he will be pairing up with dancer Witney Carson, 34 – but not before he makes sure she knows her stuff when it comes to Australia.
Robert quizzed his Dancing With The Stars partner on Aussie slang in a “ripper” video posted to social media.
They sat side by side in the video as Irwin asked her to define common slang words like arvo, dunny, fairdinkum and more.
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“Gday, it’s Robert and Witney, we have been doing rehearsals for about a week. You would know I have a lot of Australian slang that I come out with,” Robert started the video saying.
“I thought today I would test your knowledge.”
When Robert asked her to define ‘arvo’, Carson guessed it meant something was “cool”, before the first-time Aussie dancer explained it actually means afternoon.
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“Could you put it in a sentence, please?” Carson asked, “no, that’s cheating,” Irwin replied.
Carson then said she thought ‘dunny’ meant you were “done” with a situation, before Irwin explained the much grosser meaning.
“No, it’s the toilet,” Robert said.
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Next up was fair dinkum, to which Carson got correct, saying it means something is true.
The junior crocodile hunter then asked his dance partner what “chuck a Uey” means
“What the crap,” Carson says as she starts laughing.
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“This is a hard one, I’ll put this in a sentence,” Robert replied.
“I’m thinking throw a uey, throw a frisbee?” Carson asks.
Robert laughed and then explained it means making a U-turn when driving.
She also got ‘ripper’ and ‘true blue’ correct, but didn’t know what “cactus” – the slang term for saying something is broken, meant.
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