Robert Irwin on turning 21, THOSE James Bond rumours and why ‘I want to have done it all’
After breaking the internet with his first Stellar shoot, Robert Irwin is back on the cover talking about ambition and being a heart-throb as he turns 21-years-old.
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Two-and-a-half years ago, the world collectively lost it over Robert Irwin’s unanticipated glow-up.
Then just 18, he stepped out of his trademark khakis for his first fashion shoot, appearing on the cover of Stellar in a defining moment that marked the conservationist’s transition from adorable boy with a bowl cut to handsome leading man.
“I think it was one of the first times that Australia – and the world, really – got to see Robert out of khakis,” Irwin says of the shoot, which went viral and made headlines around the globe.
“It started a new era for me, for my life.”
Flattered by the attention he’s since received, in particular the swooning over his transformation into a young sex symbol, Irwin can only laugh good-naturedly. “I’ll take it,” he demurs. “But I don’t get it. As long as it means my message – not just for wildlife conservation, but for positivity – is being heard, then that’s all good.”
Irwin credits his Stellar makeover in July 2022 with hard-launching an exciting phase of his career, which culminated not only in marriage proposals and modelling offers but also a role on prime time TV, where he replaced Dr Chris Brown as Julia Morris’s co-host this year on the Network 10 reality show I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!
As well as holding his own alongside his more experienced co-host, Irwin scored his first Gold Logie nomination, and will start filming his second season in January.
“It’s live TV and it’s the biggest adrenaline rush ever. That’s what I love,” he tells Stellar. “Life is about pushing yourself and having fun. And getting to really delve into this experience alongside Julia has been such a gift. I’ve learnt a lot.
“I’ve always wanted to continue the legacy – that’s very important to me, obviously – my dad’s legacy, my family’s legacy,” he adds.
“But I want to do it in my own way. At the end of the day, my heart still beats khaki.
“But to be able to step out and try something different every now and again means the world to me.”
Where once Irwin would have shied away from experimenting with fashion, these days he’s more likely to lean in for a play with stylists.
He’s also taking tentative steps towards carving out his own niche as a millennial renaissance man.
“I love the arts, I love photography, I love painting, I love music,” he explains.
“And to me, fashion is part of that. It’s a visual representation of yourself and where you’re at in your life.”
That’s why, as he marks his 21st birthday today, Irwin wants this shoot with Stellar to declare, “This is the 2024 Robert Irwin. And he’s tackling some more modern things.”
While the family business of wildlife and conservation will always be his first love – including the new-look Crocoseum at Australia Zoo, where he, his sister Bindi, and mum Terri are continuing to burnish their family’s legacy – Robert Irwin 3.0 is also keen to take risks outside the jungle.
Not one to ever sit idle, Irwin began learning the guitar during the pandemic, has since picked up the ukulele and now has the banjo in his sights as well.
“I’ve never told anyone this but I have written stuff,” he says, explaining he has composed his own songs to process his thoughts and feelings, and unplug from the world.
“I’ve written little bits and bobs. I love writing music and putting songs together with different chords.
“And I’ve written some stuff that I played for a very small group of people who liked it. But that small group of people are all friends and family, so they’re biased. Who knows if it’s actually good. But [would I release an album]? Who knows?”
One of his most passionate groupies is Bindi’s three-year-old daughter Grace, who he says frequently agitates her uncle to make up silly songs. “She will be like: ‘Shu Shu!’ – she calls me Shu Shu, which is Mandarin for uncle – ‘sing a song about sloths riding bicycles.’
“And I’ll be like, ‘Done!’ I don’t think the songs about sloths riding bicycles will be making it onto my album, though.”
It’s not just music that Irwin is keen to explore. Last month, he was lightheartedly touted as a potential replacement for Daniel Craig in the next James Bond movie after he shared a photo of himself on Instagram clad in a tuxedo.
While he jokes that he prefers his “Bundaberg Ginger Beer shaken not stirred,” Irwin says the idea of playing the debonair spy is not as far-fetched as it first might seem.
“One of those people [who suggested me for Bond] was Jasin Boland, who is the photographer for the 007 films with Daniel Craig,” Irwin tells Stellar with a mix of complete sincerity and humour.
“And when he commented, I was like: ‘Oh, hang on … [maybe]?’ To be honest, I’ve always loved the idea of getting into acting and doing drama, because I’ve done a lot of different mediums within the television space and whatnot, and I know a lot of people in that industry. It would be an incredible thing to do.
“So watch this space. I can do a pretty good British accent.”
There’s no doubt that Irwin’s gung-ho approach to seizing the day comes from a mix of nature and nurture. Yes, he inherited the exuberant genes from his father Steve Irwin, but he also explains that his dad’s death in 2006 has been a constant reminder that life can be unpredictable – and short.
So Irwin is eager to grab life with both hands, even if it takes him outside his comfort zone. When Stellar asks what’s on his bucket list, he smiles and quickly replies: “That’s easy. Everything. I don’t want to get to the end of my life and say, ‘I wish I’d done …’ I want to have done it all.”
But Irwin isn’t just looking to have fun. He’s eager to galvanise his fame to promote causes that are close to his heart.
Promoting mental health awareness has become a priority, which is why he wants to encourage youngsters to spend more time outdoors rather than online.
“As I’ve grown up, I’ve wanted to tackle bigger issues,” he explains.
“In my work as an environmental advocate, I wanted to sort of step out and start talking about big issues like climate change through social media and my work in front of and behind the camera.
“I really want to have a global presence for positivity in the world.
“For young people, it can be very hard to navigate. There’s a lot of negativity going around.”
Of course, negativity is hard to find in the Irwin household. But that’s a conscious choice rather than a fait accompli. Irwin believes more people should approach life like his father did, adding: “If a little bloke from Beerwah, Queensland – population 1000 in the 1970s – who liked rescuing snakes from the side of the road and set up a little roadside zoo that was two acres can grow up to be one of the biggest and most influential voices in history, I think anyone can do it.”
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Irwin practises what he preaches. He was named a Global Ambassador for Prince William’s Earthshot Prize in September, which led to him spending time with the Prince of Wales in South Africa last month.
It wasn’t the first time the pair had met, and Irwin tells Stellar he considers the royal a kindred spirit and “an incredible person to talk to.
“But in Cape Town I got a really good chance to spend some time and really, really chat to him. It was amazing.
“There are so many parallels with what he does with the environment and what we do.
“And there’s definitely that unspoken understanding of the things that we all go through. I mean, as a human being, at some point in your life, you’re going to go through grief. If you love, you grieve.
“That’s a simple fact, and I think in a way that connects us all. If you dig down, we all have a similar story in the grief department, and we all will at some point. And it can be oddly uniting.”
That’s why Irwin welcomes it when strangers come up to tell him where they were when they heard the news that his father had died following a stingray attack while filming a documentary in the Great Barrier Reef on September 4, 2006.
“I think the entire world was – and still is – grieving,” Irwin says of his father’s death at the age of 44, when he was just two years old.
“I don’t think the world will ever be the same without him.
“It’s challenging, obviously, but I really like when people come up and talk about that because it’s pretty cool to have a dad that was like the world’s dad. I’ve always really liked celebrating and acknowledging Dad.
“And I think my mum, particularly, noticed that from when I was a really young age. He was a superhero, even though I didn’t get him very long.”
Irwin cites his sister’s 2020 marriage to husband Chandler Powell and his parents’ own happy relationship as road maps for his own future.
“My mum and dad were just this incredible power couple. And then I look at Bindi and Chandler and it’s like they’re literally the same person.
“They’re made for each other. I mean, if that isn’t your couple’s goals, what would be?” he says.
“I really want to find the perfect person, but I’m not in any rush for it. I’m very open to it.
“The thing that I’ve come to discover in that space is you’ve just got to let it happen.”
Beneath all of the family’s trademark enthusiasm, the loss of Steve is still felt acutely, particularly around big life moments such as today’s milestone birthday.
“It can be heartbreaking,” Irwin admits. “I can’t beat around the bush. It’s really hard, particularly when it’s those milestones. It’s difficult navigating that without a father figure.
“But I have to really praise my entire family, and particularly my mum, on the way in which she’s stepped up, to make sure that – while there will always be part of myself missing and I’ll never be complete – I never felt like I missed out on anything.”
The now 21-year-old is marking today with an early morning surf alongside his mates, followed by a small gathering with his family and friends.
In typical Irwin style, he’ll also be ready to put on a show, feeding crocodiles at Australia Zoo.
And throughout the celebrations, Irwin will be thinking of his father. “I hope,” he says, “that somewhere, somehow, he knows I’m trying to make him proud.”
The new season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! premieres at 7pm on January 19 on Network 10. See the full cover shoot and interview with Robert Irwin in today’s Stellar, out via The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (VIC), The Sunday Mail (QLD) and Sunday Mail (SA).
For more from Stellar and the podcast, Something To Talk About, click here.
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