High steaks: Robert Irwin steps out of his famous family’s shadow

Robert Irwin opens up about having kids, stepping out of his famous family’s shadow and trading khakis for a tuxedo.

It is a question Robert Irwin says he is “barely ever asked”: Does he want to have kids?

The son of late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin has opened up about life as an uncle and pondering the big questions as he enters his 20s.

“I’m not the kid with the bowl haircut any more,” Irwin tells The Sunday Telegraph.

“I’m entering my 20s now, which is the decade when a lot of that stuff sort of happens.

“For (sister) Bindi, she obviously met (partner) Chandler and has now got (daughter) Grace.”

Laughing, he says: “Having Grace made me realise just the joy that a child can bring, and also the fact that that’s really far down the track for me, like really far down the track.

“It’s awesome but holy moly, that’s a lot going on there.”

Robert Irwin says his passion in life is spreading the word about conservation. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Robert at Australia Zoo on Steve Irwin Day in 2007, the year after his dad died. Picture: Barry Leddicoat

Irwin does want to be a dad one day. It is a milestone he looks forward to with a smile on his face.

“I’m in no screaming rush for it but definitely, that’s the plan,” he says. “Finding someone, family, all of that, you sort of just have to let happen, that’s what I’m discovering. You kind of just have to let that one go, sort of submit to the process and just kind of let it happen.”

Robert celebrating his second birthday at Australia Zoo with his close-knit family — dad Steve, mum Terri and sister Bindi. Picture: Lou O'Brien

Irwin makes the revelation over lunch at Totti’s Rozelle, set within the iconic 3 Weeds pub.

The casual Italian eatery feels a bit like an old farmhouse as you sit down for a meal there.

We choose all-vegetarian options from the menu. I order a lemon, lime and bitters while Irwin opts for plain tap water.

“The last year I have just become so aware of the culinary world because we just opened a restaurant back at our place at Crocodile Lodge, Warrior, and it is a very sustainable, local sort of vibe,” he says. “I never realised just how tough the restaurant industry is.”

Can the 20-year-old cook?

“I have chickens at home, so I make a mean omelette. I go out to the yard, go to the coop, get a couple of eggs, that fresh yellow fluffy omelette.

“That I do well, I can kind of cook to get by. My dad, he was the chef.”

Irwin (right) enjoying a meatless High Steaks lunch at Totti’s with journalist Jonathon Moran, today. Picture: Justin Lloyd

On the menu was wood-fired bread; fettuccine in tomato sugo with stracciatella; spinach paccheri, kale and pistachio; roasted cauliflower, almond, prosciutto and chilli; roasted carrots, yoghurt, hazelnut and preserved lemon; and pumpkin fregola, sage and brown butter Picture: Justin Lloyd

Thai is comfort food for Irwin because that is what he remembers his late dad making in the kitchen.

“He was incredible at cooking curry,” he says. “And also, there was a lot of influence from Sri Lanka in his cooking because he lived over there shaping surfboards when he was my age, so that is the big influence in our house.”

Totti’s is known for its wood-fired bread that comes out served on a plate all puffy and delicious. Irwin jokes it looks like a pillow.

Breaking bread is a big part of life for the broader Irwin family living at Australia Zoo on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. They generally keep it simple though.

“We love a barbie,” he says.

“We have a lot of areas back-of-house mostly just for our animals to roam around but then also we’ve got our houses that are kind of all in a similar area, they’re all walking distance from each other. So we all usually come together at the fire pit and just enjoy a barbie.

“Most of the Irwin dinners are outdoors, which I just love, I really love that, we are a very outdoor group of people.”

Irwin with I'm A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! co-host Julia Morris.

While Irwin has appeared on television since birth alongside his parents Steve and Terri and sister Bindi, he has really come into his own over the past year, stepping out of his family’s shadow to join comedian Julia Morris in an unlikely but hugely successful pairing as co-hosts of Ten’s I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!

Having known his dad and now Irwin for many years, I tell him he is the best bits of his father but is also very much his own man.

Clearly cut from the same cloth as Steve, Irwin has his own opinions and has learnt his own “why”.

“I think you sum that up perfectly,” he says.

“Growing up for me, all I ever wanted to be was exactly like Dad. That was it for me and it wasn’t until very recently that I actually had a realisation that in order to continue his work and his legacy, which has just been literally the most important thing for me in my life, I don’t have to necessarily do exactly what he did.

“The Crocodile Hunter series reached like half a billion people and since then obviously billions more. There’s really no corner of the world that I can go without someone saying, ‘This is what your dad meant to me’.

Morris and Irwin are both in the running for the coveted Gold Logie. Picture: Getty Images

“Now, as I step into adulthood, I still want to be just like Dad, of course, but I now look at the way he could communicate and I go, that’s it for me.

“And then I look at my mum and I go, that sense of determination and just courage … that’s the inspiration I draw from every single day.

“I still carry with me all the best bits of my parents, my mum and my dad, and my sister.

“What we do is who we are.

“My heart beats khaki and it always will, but I am really proud for the first time to really step out and not be afraid to tackle stuff that is kind of a little bit touchy but approach it with a sense of unity because we’re in such an era of division.”

Bindi Irwin with husband Chandler Powell and their daughter Grace. Picture: Instagram

Viewers and the entertainment industry clearly agree. Irwin is nominated for a coveted Gold Logie. Morris, too, is nominated for Gold.

“At the end of the day, I see myself as an educator and that’s where the whole TV thing fits in for me,” he says.

“I seek out projects now that break me out of where I am. Instead of just hitting the wildlife conservation crowd through wildlife documentaries — if you turn on a doco, you like animals and you want to watch animals, but when you turn on I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, you’re not necessarily turning it on to learn about conservation. That’s where I come in … it is that little subtle message.”

That mission “has never been more important”.

“That is what gets me out of bed in the morning,” he says.

“I’m picking up that torch and moving it forward because Dad’s not here to push that message and that’s my job.

“I try to lead with hope. Climate change and pollution and habitat degradation and unsustainable population growth and stuff, that’s really sometimes unpopular to talk about.

“I try and lead with … ‘We can get through this, we can unite’. But it’s my generation as well that have to start really taking notice, and they are in a big way.”

Robert, Bindi and Terri Irwin attend the Steve Irwin gala to support the Wildlife Warriors conservation organisation in Las Vegas in May. Picture: Getty Images

When Irwin attends the Logie Awards at The Star Sydney on August 18, he will literally fly in and out for the event.

It will be the first time he has left one of the Irwin’s annual Crocodile Conservation Research trips at the remote Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in far north Queensland.

“I will literally wake up in a tent in the middle of nowhere covered in dirt, four-wheel-drive to a river crossing, catch a boat across — and the river is full of crocs,” he says. “Lug all your suitcases in a little tinny, jump in another four-wheel-drive to Weipa Airport and then down to Sydney. As soon as the Logies goes ‘Cut’, I am straight back up there.”

Why so urgent?

“This is the first and only thing that’s ever pulled me away from my croc research trip. Once I’m up there, I don’t go anywhere.

“It’s my favourite part of the year. It’s the best thing in the world.

“Not only is it the world-leading crocodile research project and one of the most incredible cutting-edge scientific endeavours to see in the world of science, but it’s also such a special time. It’s just a place to be surrounded by your mates in the bush, catching crocodiles.

“I will go from the khakis to the tux, straight back to the khakis. But that’s life now, it is just the weirdest juxtaposition.”

On the catwalk at the Melbourne Fashion Festival 2024. Picture: Supplied

In his element, feeding a crocodile at Australia Zoo. Picture: Supplied

Irwin is more articulate than most people his age. That’s not surprising given his upbringing. He was always going to be a wildlife warrior like the rest of his family, but what about politics?

“While that would be very much in the future, I don’t rule it out,” he says.

“Working within the political space, I will continue to do that forever and I want to get more and more involved in that.

“But there’ll be no prime minister campaigns yet, I’ll stick to the Logies campaigns for now.”

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Originally published as High steaks: Robert Irwin steps out of his famous family’s shadow