The rise of Robert Irwin

The rise of Robert Irwin

At just 22yo, Robert Irwin is already one of the most famous people in Australia - and becoming increasingly famous worldwide. He’s had a long run-up - he’s been a well-known name here pretty much from birth - but he’s just added a well-received Logies hosting stint to his resume, and seems to be going from strength to strength. So we thought we’d unpack exactly:

• How this young conservationist grew to be one of Australia’s biggest personalities

• And where he might go from here

🙋🏻‍♀️ This newsletter was written by Andrew Williams

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Why am I seeing more of Robert Irwin lately?
On Sunday he hosted Australian TV’s night of nights, the Logies. He’s got the honour of being the youngest-ever star to host, but he’d rather be known as the first wildlife conservationist to get the gig. And according to the majority of reviews, he did a great job. He earned a heap of compliments for his general hosting chops, but also for his dancing and even his comedy skills in what is a notoriously tough job…

Take me back… where did it all begin?
If you’re not across your Irwinology like some super-fans in our office, Robert (or little Bob as he was known) was born on 1 December 2003 to Aussie icon Steve Irwin - aka the Crocodile Hunter - and his wife Terri. He’s the younger brother of Bindi, who was born in 1998. They both grew up in and around their parents’ conservation work in Australia Zoo - and sometimes that caused a stir…

Why was that?
The first time many people might’ve seen Robert in the public eye was in 2004, when he was just a month old. The zoo promoted what it called ‘Bob’s Croc Feeding Debut’ which turned out to be Steve feeding a saltwater crocodile called Murray, while holding Bob in one arm. But Murray was a 3.8 metre salty - and it led many to criticise Irwin for unnecessarily endangering his son. 

What was the fallout?
Irwin apologised for the incident, but also defended himself, saying that he was in control of the animal the whole time and that he needed to teach his kids to be croc-savvy. And this was tied into the whole Crocodile Hunter appeal - Irwin himself often said that the danger of what he did was kind of the delivery mechanism for getting the conservation message across. But many saw the inclusion of a one-month old, who had no say in the matter, as going too far.

Do Robert and Bindi still do work for Australia Zoo?
Yep, they’re still heavily involved. When he was 15yo, Robert fed Murray himself, and he still regularly runs the feeding of the crocodiles at Australia Zoo. He’s taken over from his father, who - as many Squizers will remember - died from a stingray barb in 2006 when Bob was just 2yo.

How is Steve remembered?
As a national treasure - a genuinely good bloke who was passionate about the conservation work he did and about his family. And despite the death of their dad when they were young, both of his kids grew up to follow in his footsteps, becoming avid conservationists and animal lovers. But in recent years, Robert’s career has really stepped up a notch, and he’s become one of the most prominent faces on Australian TV… 

How has that come about?
Though Robert has grown up on camera, and is no stranger to TV, he was mostly involved in wildlife/conservation shows in his early career. A reality show called Crikey! It’s the Irwins ran for 4 seasons between 2018 and 2022, following the family at home and working at Australia Zoo… 

How did other opportunities come along?
As part of his work, Robert regularly stepped into other entertainment spaces and his charisma and passion for his conservation work won him fans. He was on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, and then in 2024 he got a lot more prime time exposure when he was tapped to take over from Chris Brown as the co-host of the reality competition series I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here…

What has he done since?
Last year his career went to another level. He was announced as a contestant for the US version of Dancing with the Stars - the same show his sister Bindi won 10 years before in 2015. And he was outstanding - he gained a heap of new fans and ended up taking out the mirrorball trophy… He was so popular, the producers asked him to host a spin off show called The Next Pro, which is airing in the US right now. 

And now he’s the Logies host…
Yep, and he’ll be hosting the new version of Australian Ninja Warrior; he’s won the AACTA for the favourite Australian media personality 2 years in a row, and added the most popular presenter Logie to his trophy cabinet as well - oh yeah, and a Gold Logie nomination… 

Why is he so popular?
Most of the cultural critics we’ve read put his appeal down to a few factors, but his positive version of masculinity was a recurring theme that came up during his run on Dancing with the Stars.

Just explain that a bit more…
In a time when the manosphere is influencing young men to present a certain hyper-masculinity, he’s something different - he’s very emotionally open, and he comes across as very earnest. You might’ve heard the phrase toxic masculinity a lot in the media - Robert’s brand has been described as positive masculinity. Then there’s his backstory…

How does that play into it?
It’s very easy to see Steve’s DNA in Robert - he’s a reminder of a famous Australian, lots of people have grown up with him, and lots of people can empathise with and relate to his grief over not growing up with his dad and what he’s been through. Apart from that, there’s the simple fact that by any metric, he’s good at what he does and he attracts eyeballs, and in turn, money…

Go on…
He’s professional, he seems to prepare diligently for the stuff he does, and he’s good at performing - whether it’s dancing, talking, you name it, he seems to make a good fist of it. There’s an annual survey run by marketing agency Talent Corp that ranks the top broadcasting talents in Australia. Robert has topped that list 2 years in a row…

So he’s a good investment for brands?
Yep… He made news last year for his advertising campaign with Bonds, which featured him posing with actual snakes and other wildlife. The campaign went viral and generated over $10 million in media coverage in its first week - that’s 7% more than Bonds generated in the whole of the previous year. And a big part of that was Irwin’s own social media presence, which is another element of his appeal.

So he’s popular on social platforms too?
Yep… He has nearly 10 million followers on Instagram, and more than 10 million on TikTok. It’s another factor in why he’s so popular for broadcast TV roles - he has appeal across the spectrum of people who still watch broadcast TV, and some younger people who might have never watched it.

What is his main motivation for putting himself in the public eye?
When promoting the campaign he did for Tourism Australia last year (yep, he did that too…), he told the Hollywood Reporter that he takes on these outside projects to sell his core conservation message. He says that’s the main thing for him, and he’ll continue trying new things to get it across to as many people as possible. It’s been a winning strategy so far, and there are plenty of people here for whatever he does next…

Onto our Recommendations

Reading: This Hollywood Reporter interview we mentioned, where Robert Irwin talks about why he takes on so much…

Reading: This piece from The Nightly, which takes a look at why Irwin is so appealing to American audiences…

Watching: It’d be remiss of us not to point Squizers to his turn on Dancing with the Stars, so here’s a clip of his Halloween style Tango with dance partner Witney Carson…

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