Robert Irwin opens up about 'incredibly painful' loss of Steve

'I love getting little pieces of him back'

Continuing his late father’s legacy, both on and off screen, Robert Irwin joins podcaster Jonathon Moran to speak candidly about his journey with grief following the shocking loss of his world-famous father. 

There isn’t a person in Australia who isn’t familiar with the esteemed legacy of Steve Irwin. Between his headline-making conservation work, fearless advocacy of wildlife, and his unwavering adorations of his young family, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more beloved Aussie icon.  

When 44-year-old Irwin was fatally stabbed in the chest by a stingray barb while filming on the Great Barrier Reef in 2006, the country mourned the loss deeply. 

Though none more than Irwin’s wife Terri, and their two young children, eight-year-old Bindi and three-year-old Robert. Almost 20 years on, the family has continued to build on Irwin’s legacy, fighting to protect and cherish Australia’s ecosystems through their multiple business and conservation projects. 

Stepping up to the plate in recent years to join Mum Terri and sister Bindi on their crusade, 20-year-old Robert has quickly become the face of the family’s conservation work, carving out his own television career in the process. 

But alongside the glitz and glamour of the silver screen (and the time spent cuddling adorable baby koalas), Irwin’s very public life often means every trial and tribulation he endures is played out for us all to watch. 

“It is a challenging thing because everyone faces those challenges. But being in the public eye from a young age adds an extra element of ‘odd’,” says Irwin on Moran’s podcast, Mental As Anyone. “For me, I have always known my purpose, what gets me out of bed every day.”

“I'm very, very, very lucky that I found my calling at a very young age, and so I get to pursue that every day, which fills me with a lot of pride.” 

But as much as Irwin loved to share his work with anyone who’ll listen, he’s adamant that for the sake of his mental well-being and resilience, he ensures his personal life remains personal – something each member of the Irwin clan echoes, “As public as we are in a way we're very low key and very, very, very private.”

The Irwins. Image: Instagram/@robertirwinphotography

What it’s like to grieve a personal loss in the public eye

While some may assume Robert’s young age at the time of his father's death was a small mercy, the 20-year-old wildlife warrior shares his complicated journey with grief, explaining that there is no precedent when it comes to mourning a loss.

“When it happens, it is horrible. It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in, whoever it is, anyone who’s in your life and who you love that’s gone, it’s gonna hit you like a train,” he shares. “So it’s just a matter of accepting the fact that you don’t ever really go wake up one day and go, ‘OK, all right, I’ve moved on, I’m good’.

“It’s just not it, you will never move on. But it’s this shadow that you’ve always got that eventually, instead of it just being within you consuming every day, it walks beside you, that sort of thing.”

While some people may find it difficult to filter through a constant stream of anecdotes, photos and footage of a late parent – constant reminders of their loss –, Irwin says he welcomes his father’s presence, in any form. 

“I'm very lucky, because I'm still around, a lot of the people that were closest to Dad are the people who influenced my life most, and so it's just constant stories. It's the little faded memories that I've got,” he says. “Having lost someone at a very young age, I love getting little pieces of him back.”

Despite growing up without his father to lean on at times, Irwin says he couldn’t be prouder to continue the late Croc Hunter’s legacy. 

“I have always felt not necessarily responsibility but like this honour that I have, particularly to my dad, and to my mom, and to my family, and the incredible path that they laid out, that I now get to pick all of that up, and keep that all going and forge that ahead,” he says. “It's the honour of a lifetime.”

JMo and Robert Irwin in Sydney. Image: Supplied

Originally published as Robert Irwin opens up about 'incredibly painful' loss of Steve