Robert Irwin

Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003) is an Australian conservationist, zookeeper, wildlife photographer, and television presenter. The son of conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin, he is regarded as an influential figure in Australian popular culture. Time magazine named him and his older sister, Bindi, one of the 100 most influential emerging leaders in the world on its inaugural list in 2019.

Irwin started photographing and working at Australia Zoo, founded and owned by his family, when he was a child. As he grew older, he became frequently involved in the activities that his father originally participated in. Irwin received numerous accolades for his photography, including exhibitions in museums across Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom. In 2024, he was named a global ambassador for the Earthshot Prize, launched by William, Prince of Wales. He currently serves as a member of Australia Zoo's management team and is on the board of directors of its non-profit organisation, Wildlife Warriors.

On television, Irwin starred in the Animal Planet series Crikey! It's the Irwins (2018–2022) with his family. He co-hosted the Network 10 entertainment program I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2024–2026) alongside Julia Morris, which earned him the Logie Award for Most Popular Presenter. Irwin won the thirty-fourth season of the ABC competition series Dancing with the Stars with professional dancer Witney Carson, and hosted the spin-off program The Next Pro. He presented the Logie Awards of 2026, becoming the ceremony's youngest host, and will host the revival of the sports program Australian Ninja Warrior alongside Georgie Tunny and Beau Ryan.

Early life Robert Clarence Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 in Buderim, Queensland, the only son and youngest child of Steve Irwin (1962–2006) and Terri Irwin (; 1964). His father was an Australian conservationist and his mother is an American naturalist from Eugene, Oregon. They owned and operated Australia Zoo together and rose to international prominence with their wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter (1996–2004). Irwin was named after his paternal and maternal grandfathers: Bob Irwin (b. 1939), the co-founder of Australia Zoo, and Clarence Raines (1921–2008), a World War II veteran. His older sister, Bindi (b. 1998), is also a conservationist and television presenter. The siblings are dual citizens of Australia and the United States, and are of English, Irish, and Swedish descent.

Irwin was blessed by Tibetan Buddhist nuns during a ceremony held by his parents at Australia Zoo one month after he was born. Moments later, his father carried him in his arm while hand feeding a chicken carcass to a saltwater crocodile named Murray. Irwin was close to the reptile, which sparked international media outrage and brought comparisons to the singer Michael Jackson dangling his son outside of a hotel window one year prior. The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures. Special dispensation, however, was granted to a child who met a very strict set of guidelines and training requirements. He was homeschooled at Australia Zoo for his entire education, allowing flexibility for his wildlife and media commitments. Irwin developed an interest in photography partly through his father; he found it to be an "individual" way of continuing his work. He started taking photographs when he was six years old using a point-and-shoot camera and later received his first DSLR, the Canon EOS 700D. He graduated high school with two TAFE certificates when he was fifteen years old.

Career 2004–2013: Early beginnings

Irwin made his television debut during his parents' appearance on the interview program Enough Rope with Andrew Denton on 22 March 2004. He made two appearances on his sister's television series Bindi the Jungle Girl (2007–2008), and had an uncredited cameo role in the family film Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove. At the age of eight, following extensive training, Irwin was allowed to feed alligators and freshwater crocodiles for the first time under expert supervision.

In March 2013, Irwin earned his first Logie Award nomination for Most Popular New Male Talent for his role on the Network 10 program Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors. He also released a series of children's books titled Dinosaur Hunter, which he provided illustrations and co-authored with Lachlan Creag and Jack Wells. Irwin was involved in a six-year campaign, led by his mother, to prevent bauxite strip mining at the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on the Cape York Peninsula. The Queensland Government passed legislation to protect the reserve from mining in November.

2014–2017: Rise to prominence On his tenth birthday, Irwin fed his first large saltwater crocodile, named Monty, at the Australia Zoo's Crocoseum. He was supervised and assisted by Wes Mannion, the zoo's director and his late father's best friend. The program was nominated for Best Kids: Factual at the 5th International Emmy Kids Awards. Irwin made a guest appearance on the second season of the British documentary series Ten Deadliest Snakes with Nigel Marven. He was named the junior runner-up of Australian Geographics 2016 Nature Photographer of the Year competition for his image of a large male saltwater crocodile resting on a riverbank in Northern Queensland.

Beginning in February 2017, Irwin made regular appearances on the NBC late-night program The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He made eleven appearances on the show in a span of two years and found success with American television viewers by presenting various animals to host Jimmy Fallon and comedian Kevin Hart. Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia on 6 April 2017, formalising a partnership between the organisation and Australia Zoo that aimed to encourage Australian youth to get involved with wilderness and conservation. Irwin was a junior finalist for Australian Geographics 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year competition. His image of a young spotted python slithering in the bushland of the Cape York Peninsula was exhibited at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide and the Australian Museum in Sydney. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographics 2018 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a sunset at the Great Dividing Range. In October, Irwin started running Australia Zoo's daily crocodile feeding demonstrations; a job previously held by his father. He also starred in and co-produced the Animal Planet television program Crikey! It's the Irwins alongside his mother and sister. The series, like The Crocodile Hunter franchise, followed the family and their work at Australia Zoo across four seasons. His image of a huntsman spider in mid-air while clutching a dead frog was highly commended in the youth category at the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

Two of Irwin's photographs, featuring an Eurasian dotterel and an emu, were commended in the youth category at the 2019 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographics 2019 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a bearded dragon camouflaging on a log in Blackbutt, Queensland. Two of his photographs were highly honoured at the 2019 Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards; one image featured one of the last known northern white rhinoceroses in the world at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. The Queensland Tourism Industry Council declared Irwin their Young Achiever of the Year, in recognition of his contributions to "the development of a vibrant and professional tourism industry."

2020–2024: I'm a Celebrity! In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annastacia Palaszczuk, the premier of Queensland, recruited Irwin for a domestic tourism campaign encouraging Australians to spend their holiday at the state. He was named the junior runner-up for Australian Geographics 2020 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his close-up image of an Australian scrub python. Irwin won the People's Choice Award at the 2020 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards for capturing a large bushfire burning near the border of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve during Australia's Black Summer. The image was exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London.

Irwin made a guest appearance on the animated television series Bluey in February 2021 as a dingo retail clerk named Alfie. While filming for the fourth and final season of Crikey! It's the Irwins, Irwin had to make an emergency escape from a crocodile enclosure after a , saltwater crocodile, named Casper, ignored the food Irwin was offering him and instead made a beeline for Irwin himself. He managed to scale the enclosure walls just in time and avoided injury. He published his first photo book, Robert Irwin's Australia, in October; all proceeds were directed towards wildlife conservation efforts.

In October 2023, Irwin replaced veterinarian Chris Brown as the co-host of the Network 10 television program I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, hosting alongside comedian Julia Morris. He agreed to host under the condition that the series stopped using wildlife products. Two months later, he was honoured by GQ Australia as their Social Force of the Year. For his inaugural season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Irwin was nominated for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television and the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter at the Logie Awards of 2024. He was also recognised by Mediaweek as a rising star in Australia's advertising, media and marketing industries. In September, he and South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha were named the first two global ambassadors for the Earthshot Prize, founded by William, Prince of Wales.

2025–present: Dancing with the Stars and Australian Ninja Warrior At the 14th AACTA Awards in February 2025, Irwin won Favourite Australian Media Personality. By the following month, he assumed a managerial role at Australia Zoo and was named to the board of directors of its non-profit organisation Wildlife Warriors. Irwin starred in the second chapter of Tourism Australia's Come and Say G'day campaign, which launched in key international markets in August. It amassed over 374 million views worldwide and was effective in drawing positive interest from potential tourists.

On Dancing with the Stars, Irwin was partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson; he later competed in a jive relay with actress Xochitl Gomez. Their foxtrot routine to "Footprints in the Sand" by Leona Lewis made them the first individual couple of the season to earn a perfect score. Despite Irwin suffering a rib cage injury prior to the finale, the couple won the competition on 25 November 2025. Irwin is the first Australian male contestant to win the series and, at age 21, is the youngest male winner so far. Additionally, as his sister won the twenty-first season with professional dancer Derek Hough, they became the first celebrity sibling duo to be crowned champions.

Week Dance Music Judges' scores Total score Result 1 Jive "Born to be Wild" — Steppenwolf 8 7 15 Safe 2 Tango "Move Your Feet" — Junior Senior 8 7 7 22 Safe 3 Salsa "Million Dollar Baby" — Tommy Richman 8 7 7 22 Safe 4 Cha-cha-cha "Try Everything"(from Zootopia) 7 7 8 22 Safe 5 Contemporary "You'll Be in My Heart" — Phil Collins 8 9 9 35 Safe 6 Jazz "Dancing Through Life" — Jonathan Bailey feat. Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, Marissa Bode and Cynthia Erivo 9 9 9 36 Safe 7 Argentine tango "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" — Hampton String Quartet 10 9 10 38 Safe Hustle & Lindy HopMarathon "Murder on the Dancefloor" — Sophie Ellis-Bextor & "A Little Party Never Killed Nobody (All We Got)" — Fergie, Q-Tip, & GoonRock 3 8 Paso doble "Icky Thump" — The White Stripes 9 9 10 38 Safe Freestyle(Team Kool) "Celebration" — Kool & the Gang 9 10 9 38 9(Quarterfinals) Foxtrot "Footprints in the Sand" — Leona Lewis 10 10 10 40 Safe Jive(Dance relay) "Dance with Me Tonight" — Olly Murs 2 10(Semifinals) Jive "Baby I'm a Star" — Prince 10 10 10 30 Safe Viennese waltz "WOW" — Prince 10 9 10 29 11(Finals) Quickstep "Are You Gonna Be My Girl" — Jet 9 10 10 29 Winners Cha-cha-cha(Instant dance) "Cake by the Ocean" — DNCE 10 10 10 30 Freestyle "Black and Gold" — Sam Sparro& "The Nights" — Avicii 10 10 10 30