Watch: Robert Irwin Shares What Earns Him “Cool Points” As Uncle to Bindi Irwin’s Daughter Grace
Dancing With the Stars pro Witney Carson may have helped lead Robert Irwin to his Mirrorball Trophy-hoisting victory last November, but the conservationist’s late father was with him for each well-rehearsed step.
Showing off a button-down that once belonged to Steve Irwin and the ring he created from a set of keys he found in The Crocodile Hunter star’s office, Robert explained in a November Instagram video, “These two things are a way to keep me close to home and to what’s most important to me.”
So, before the 22-year-old would slip into his show day wardrobe, “I’ve always done that dance at least once in Dad’s shirt,” the photographer explained. “It just feels like a big hug every time I put it on.”
Though he hasn’t felt Steve’s physical embrace since the then-44-year-old was felled by a stingray’s barb on Sept. 4, 2006, while filming his Ocean’s Deadliest doc in Australia’s Batt Reef, “In some way, I want him part of it,” Robert explained of his victorious DWTS run. “Because this experience has truly changed my life. And I know I wouldn’t be here without him and his legacy that I get to continue.”
In fact, most every move he, sister Bindi Irwin and their mom Terri Irwin make is choreographed to pay tribute to their family patriarch.
In addition to continuing his work through the family’s Australia Zoo, their Wildlife Warriors non-profit and the annual Steve Irwin Gala, they make sure Steve remains very much a part of their menagerie.
And while the environmentalist passed a full decade and a half before Bindi and husband Chandler Powell welcomed daughter Grace Warrior, she’s well-versed on her namesake.
“We call him Grandpa Crocodile,” Bindi said on a June 2025 episode of Kylie Kelce‘s Not Gonna Lie podcast. And thanks to the endless hours of footage he captured on his mission to protect wildlife, “She gets to watch his documentaries and it’s really special.”
And, crikey, is the 5-year-old following in her grandfather’s boot steps.
“Grace, oh my goodness, she is a wild child,” Bindi acknowledged. “I mean, she has my dad’s personality. I did not expect that. Having a little one, I was like, ‘Where did this come from? Oh, my dad.'”
Instagram/Robert Irwin
No wonder the khaki-suited little one “believes that she runs Australia Zoo,” Bindi joked to E! News in 2024. “She thinks that it’s her job to make sure all the animals are cared for. She is the kindest and most beautiful soul while also having this fiery energy that’s like Dad and I love it. I love it so much.”
And she’s not the only one who loves how Grace is chomping at the bit to carry on the family legacy.
“Watching Grace is like watching Steve,” his widow told E!, “because Steve never stopped being 3 years old. He had that wonder of nature and discovery and curiosity every single day. And to see that in Grace, I want to nurture that and make sure she hangs on to that forever.”
Echoed Robert, “When you’re with Grace, you really do see everything in a different light. Everything is magic, everything is special. Everything’s just a big spectacle. And it makes you really value what’s so important in life.”
Like keeping their flock together. See how Steve’s legacy has continued two decades after his death.
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Instagram / Bindi Irwin
Instagram / Bindi Irwin
