Four questions that Robert Irwin asks himself at the end of every – very – busy day.

It’s fair to say that Irwin, 21, is now one of the most recognisable faces on the planet, thanks to his 7.5 million and counting social media followers, his stint as co-host on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, his turn on the ballroom floor on the upcoming American season of Dancing with the Stars, and a certain global underwear campaign for iconic Australian brand, Bonds, that to date has had a staggering – in marketing speak – eight billion – “impressions”.

Speaking on the phone during a flying visit home to Australia Zoo, Irwin is his trademark upbeat, polite self (“Wait, before we start, how are you, how’s the family?”) ready to roll his sleeves up (“I’ve got croc feeding this afternoon, can’t wait”) and refreshingly candid about how he’s coping with warp speed stardom.

“I think when we spoke back in January, it was at a bit of a stressful point in my life,” Irwin recalls of our last interview when he talked about the importance of mental health.

“Well, in some ways life has gotten even busier since then, and in some ways more stressful, but I have started to add more tools to the old tool belt, and I’m discovering these as I go along. I am trying to be a mental health advocate, now I am not an expert in any way, but I like to share my tips and tricks that I’m finding useful.”

“I know my life is very unusual, very uncommon but there is pressure in everyone’s life whether you are in the public eye or not, so here’s what I do and I hope it helps someone else.”

He pauses.

“So I’ve got this Rule of Four thing. It started with my mum (Terri Irwin). She would always ask me and Bindi (Robert’s older sister) last thing at night when we were little ‘What was your favourite part of the day?’,’’ he says.

“So I’ve expanded it to four things. Number one, ‘What was your favourite part of the day?’ Number two, ‘What am I most looking forward to tomorrow?’ Number three, ‘What kind thing did I do for someone I know or someone I don’t know today?’ and Number four, ‘What kind thing did I do for myself?’.

“It puts you in a headspace of just downloading, but also not taking anything for granted, of being kind to yourself and to someone else. It’s so important we talk about mental health. I feel like what I do is the honour of a lifetime. I know I am so lucky, so privileged to come out and do what I do every day, so I never want to lose sight of that, and the platforms it gives me.

“So I’d also like to say to young people especially, if you are struggling, just talk to someone. Please just have a chat with someone about how you’re feeling. And also, if you can, get off the screens and get outside.”

Or, perhaps, dance.

Irwin will appear on the American ABC series of Dancing with the Stars later this year, a series Bindi won in 2015.

But Irwin says that when it comes to dancing, he’s a great croc catcher.

“How would I describe my dancing style? I’m going to say basic,’’ he says.

“I have the baseline, kind of nerdy dancing. I can do the sprinkler, the worm, the arm thing you know when you sort of move your arms like a wave,” he chuckles.

“I have the least rhythm of anyone I know. I don’t have the skill, but I do have the passion and the drive and I’m giving it 100 per cent.”

Irwin says visiting the Dancing with the Stars set felt “like coming home in many ways”.

“I had the amazing opportunity to see Bindi in the ballroom when I was a kid, and that planted a seed in my very young brain, and it stayed in my brain over the last 10 years, that I would love to do it,’’ he says.

“When I came back, many of the same dancers were the same, the same crew, and everyone was so welcoming. People ask me if I am excited or nervous, but what’s great about it is that I’m excited because I am nervous.

“It is the spice of life, stepping outside your comfort zone, and that’s something I have been doing quite a bit of lately.”

Which brings us to that Bonds campaign, the one that it is safe to say took Irwin quite a way out of his comfort zone and into what he calls “some very interesting territory”.

In it, a shirtless Irwin models underwear wearing said underwear accessorised with a snake around his shoulders, a spider on his thigh and a crocodile at his feet. It is also safe to say it caused the internet to collectively lose its mind.

“Well, social media became a very interesting place for me. The reaction was, well I was initially taken aback by the level of it,” Irwin muses.

“I mean I knew there would be a reaction but I was not expecting how big it was.

“I think I initially saw it as a very cool opportunity to do something new and also a new approach for an American audience to talk about Australian wildlife, because at the end of the day everything I do is about bringing that messaging about conservation, even if it’s as out there as being in your underpants,” he laughs.

“To me, the real stars of that campaign were the croc, the spider, the black-headed python, just getting people talking about Australian wildlife in a new and edgy way.’’

Irwin says he also wanted to be in the best physical condition possible for the shoot.

“Health and fitness training, and mental fitness, has been a big part of my life for a long time and I wanted to be the best version of myself for Bonds,’’ he says.

“I was shooting I’m a Celebrity in Africa when I was offered it. I couldn’t tell anyone, but I started to research this really intensive program and I buckled down on my nutrition, weightlifting and cardio.

“We’d start at 4am, finish at 6pm and then I’d be working out all night. I’d be doing sit-ups between takes, and Julia (Morris, Irwin’s co-host) would say, “You’ve got something going on”, but I couldn’t tell her. But I knew that Bonds is an iconic Australian brand, so quintessentially Australian, and that I’d be representing home, so I was going to be the absolute best I could be.”

Irwin laughs.

“And I saw all the parodies people did on social media and I thought they were absolutely bloody hilarious. I loved them.”

Something else Irwin loves – and he really, really loves them – is his family.

He makes a point at the end of the interview to give an update on Bindi’s health, after she was recently hospitalised in the United States to have her appendix taken out and 14 endometriosis lesions removed.

“She is doing so well, she is flourishing, I am so proud of her, and the way she has spoken out about female health, she is just amazing.”

The Irwins are a famously tight knit tribe, with Terri bringing up Robert and his sister as a solo parent after the shock death of their father, the beloved Steve Irwin.

The man the world knew as the The Crocodile Hunter died at aged 44 on September 4, 2006 while filming on location, near Queensland’s Port Douglas, killed by multiple stabs to his chest by a stingray’s barbs.

Since then, all the Irwins have worked hard to continue his legacy, either through the expansion of Australia Zoo, their various conservation projects, their Wildlife Warrior Charity and, in Robert Irwin’s case, his wildlife photography.

In 2022, he launched his book, Robert Irwin’s Australia.

Four years in the making, it is a collection of his favourite wildlife images, and an ode to one of his favourite activities – going bush. He chuckles.

“Well, it is getting harder to walk around populated areas.

“I took my niece to Disneyland a couple of days ago and it was pandemonium.

“I was like, ‘Whoa, this is next level’.’’

Little wonder then that Irwin continues to treasure heading out to the middle of nowhere, and stepping behind the camera.

Irwin is one of the judges for the 2025 Crikey Magazine Photography Competition.

Now in its ninth year, the competition features three open categories: Crikey! Cover; The Natural World; and People’s Choice, along with three youth categories with the judges looking for, he says, “originality and a perspective that shows a sense of passion for the natural world”. Entries are now open, and close on August 31, 2025.

Winners will be announced on October 10, 2025, followed by an exhibition of all finalists and winning images on display at Australia Zoo.

“This competition is so important to me, it’s a real passion project because in a time of environmental turmoil it is so important to celebrate hope and optimism about our natural world,’’ he says.

“It is showing what it is we fight to protect. I want to see everyone’s ideas, their images of how they view nature.

“There are so many wonderful photographers around the world, both amateur and professional – in the days of digital photography everyone has the ability to capture something beautiful. So I’d encourage everyone to just get out there and give it your best shot.”

Robert Irwin, King of having a go, getting outside your comfort zone, dancing like no one else is watching (even if the whole world is) and encouraging us all to do the same.

For entry details on the Crikey Magazine Photography Competition guidelines, and past winning images, visit australiazoo.com.au/photography-competition/