Robert Irwin reveals nightmare Logies gaffe at 2018 awards

“I’m feeling weird.” Robert Irwin has revealed a hilarious story about his accidental ‘alcohol’ incident at the Logies one year.

Robert Irwin’s head was inside a chicken coop when he got the call he was a Gold Logie nominee.

It’s a very Robert Irwin way to find out he’s been tapped for Australian TV’s biggest honour at the tender age of 20, and just months after his debut as a prime time co-host for Channel 10.

In another very Robert Irwin way to fall victim to the looseness of TV’s night of nights, which Margot Robbie previously said was wilder than any Hollywood award show, the wildlife warrior has revealed he unwittingly consumed alcohol at the 2018 awards, where he presented onstage alongside Dr Chris Brown.

Robert Irwin presented at the 2018 Logies with Dr Chris Brown.

Aged just 14 at the time, Irwin tells news.com.au he polished off a bag of chocolates before his live TV moment, unaware the sweets were laced with grog.

“I’m about to go up on stage, I’m so hungry, haven’t eaten all day, and I’m like, ‘I’m feeling weird. I kind of feel sick’,” he remembers.

“I had this gift pack, and there was a big pack of chocolates and my mum [Terri] goes, ‘Oh there you go. You’ve got chocolates, little sugar hit.’

“So I’m eating these chocolates and I’m thinking, are they in date? Mum goes, ‘Yeah, yeah, they’re in date.’ And then she goes, ‘oh … oh no, they’re alcoholic chocolates.’

“I don’t drink at all, and I was about 13 or 14 at the time.

“So then I go on stage and I’m like, now I’ve got to present this award … That’s my memorable Logies story.”

Six years later, Irwin is in for another first at the 2024 Logies, scoring his first Gold nod alongside I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! co-host Julia Morris, who is celebrating her third nomination for the top gong.

It’s a validating feat for both, particularly in the wake of certain doubts over whether their pairing would work onscreen when Irwin’s casting was announced September last year.

Robert Irwin and Julia Morris are both nominated for a Gold Logie. Picture: Richard Dobson

Morris, 56, says, “I knew, and Robert knew, that once that show went to air, everybody who was like ‘How is this going work?’ and ‘She’s pretty full on’, and ‘He has a different message to what message she has’, would be proven wrong.

“But we couldn’t have been more chill.

“We already knew. We didn’t even feel those nerves. In terms of this relationship working on camera, we already knew, totally hundred per cent, we were ready and had something special.”

Still, outside noise can sting.

Irwin, having been in the public eye since he was born, is a headline-magnet, with his rock-solid relationship with mother Terri Irwin, his love life and various career endeavours all open for judgment.

He seldom comments on stories publicly. Privately, though, he deals with both criticism and praise in equal measure.

“Turn off the comments. Don’t look at the comments,” Irwin said of his strategy.

“That’s the first thing I learned growing up, you don’t read what’s said about you, because if it’s negative it’s just going to tear you down to a level where you just can’t climb back out of it. And then you also don’t want to grow a head the size of Ben-Hur when you hear, ‘oh you were doing great on this’.

“Positive or negative, people are going to say whatever they want. The most important thing is to stick to yourself. Be true to yourself, your message, your authenticity.

“Keep people that you love around you, and just keep going forward and pushing out that positivity, while still acknowledging when you’re having a tough day.”

Robert Irwin, Bindi Irwin and Terri Irwin. Picture: Ethan Miller/Getty Images via AFP

Morris, for her part, admits she’s a little less composed.

“It sends me nuclear when I read bulls**t about [the Irwins],” she says.

Irwin jumps in, “Seriously, when it’s about me I’m like, ‘uh, whatever’, but when it’s about you, or someone you know, you just want to say to people, ‘No, look at who this person truly is. You look at ‘em for a second on a screen’.

“But, you just gotta take a breath.”

Morris adds, “Check your own algorithm. We are fed a lot of what the algorithm thinks we need to hear, and often times it will support the thoughts we already have. So, feed the internet, don’t read the internet.”

With just days until the Logies, which take place at The Star Sydney on Sunday, Irwin and Morris haven’t been heavily leaning into what can be an extreme campaign trail among certain candidates and networks.

Comedian Tom Gleeson infamously launched his own ruthless mock campaign for the Gold in 2019, which paid off when he was the last man standing on the night, leaving the more earnest nominees with egg on their faces.

“There has been a lot of concern that I’m turning this award into a joke, but what you are forgetting is I’m a comedian, I love jokes,” Gleeson said during his acceptance speech.

While a stalwart comedian herself, and often the butt of her own jokes, Morris says she’s more assiduous when it comes to being honoured among viewers and peers.

Robert and Julia haven’t felt the need to go hard on the Logies campaign trail.

“I think the campaigning, whenever I see somebody else’s campaigning, one of the other networks has got full-on commercials on the air, and I’m like, ‘Is that not unfair?’ But that’s just my ego saying that,” she says.

“The truth is, we are genuinely excited to be nominated.

“You don’t want to disrespect your show, for a start. Robert and I are the figureheads of a 600-strong crew who are making 24 hour television turnover over six weeks, away from their families, away from everything that’s familiar to them.

“So we are not really just representing ourselves, we are representing the show. Robert’s representing conservation as well within that, and bringing conservation to Australian homes through the power of comedy is just a spectacular thing to be a part of.

“To be honest, I am absolutely thrilled that I’ve got a job, let alone being nominated.”

The TV Week Logie Awards airs on Channel 7 from 7pm on Sunday

Originally published as Robert Irwin reveals nightmare Logies gaffe at 2018 awards