{"id":424597,"date":"2026-05-04T10:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/424597\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T10:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T10:01:13","slug":"steve-irwin-and-son-robert-have-one-big-difference-terri-irwin-jokes-steve-never-took-his-shirt-off-for-wildlife-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/424597\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Irwin and Son Robert Have One Big Difference, Terri Irwin Jokes: ‘Steve Never Took His Shirt Off for Wildlife’ (Exclusive)"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEED TO KNOW<\/p>\n

Terri Irwin joked to PEOPLE about the one thing that sets her son, Robert Irwin, apart from his late father, Steve Irwin<\/p>\n

\u201cSteve never took his shirt off for wildlife,\u201d she quipped at the Steve Irwin Gala on May 2<\/p>\n

Robert also opened up about what he’s learned from the late wildlife conservationist, who still serves as his \u201cgreatest inspiration”<\/p>\n

Terri Irwin<\/a> is pointing out the one thing that sets her son, Robert Irwin<\/a>, apart from his late father, Steve Irwin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While speaking to PEOPLE exclusively at the Steve Irwin Gala<\/a> in Las Vegas on Saturday, May 2, the mother-son duo reflected on how \u201cincredibly special\u201d it has been to carry on the late conservationist’s legacy together.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything started so small,\u201d Terri, 61, recalled of her husband transforming the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park into the Australia Zoo. \u201cIt was two acres, it was a few animals, and it was no filming. And so to see where we’ve gone, and to have Steve embrace that, was so impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inspired by Steve’s desire to bring wildlife \u201cto the world\u201d without hiding his \u201clight under a bushel,\u201d Terri hosts the annual Steve Irwin Gala alongside Robert, 22, and daughter Bindi Irwin<\/a> to fund and continue the conservation work the Crocodile Hunter star was so passionate about.<\/p>\n

\"Terri<\/p>\n

Terri Irwin and Robert Irwin at the Steve Irwin Gala in Las Vegas on May 2, 2026
Credit: Ethan Miller\/Getty<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lot of work, it was a lot of grief,\u201d Terri explained of her and Robert’s journey to where they are now. \u201cThere were times of great joy. And to be able to have shared that with him was incredibly special \u2014 and carry it on.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I will say the one thing that Robert’s got that Steve didn’t \u2014 Steve never took his shirt off for wildlife,” she added jokingly.<\/p>\n

In addition to appearing shirtless on live television<\/a> while performing alongside dance partner Witney Carson<\/a> during season 34 of Dancing with the Stars<\/a>, Robert left little to the imagination in a racy underwear campaign<\/a> for Australian brand Bonds last year.<\/p>\n

Never miss a story \u2014 sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter<\/a> to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer\u200b\u200b, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.<\/p>\n

\"Robert<\/p>\n

Robert Irwin stars in Bonds underwear campaign
Credit: Bonds<\/p>\n

In response to his mother’s comment, Robert simply insisted that he’s been doing \u201cwhatever gets the job done.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also went on to emphasize that his late father, who died in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray barb<\/a>, will always serve as his \u201cgreatest inspiration\u201d in everything he does.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would really exemplify what it is to give everything 100 percent,\u201d Robert said. \u201cAnd that’s what I take into everything I do. You know, if you have a passion, you really owe it to yourself to give it everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a night like tonight is the culmination of his passion, his love for conservation, but also the fact that family and fun \u2014 that was the most important thing, too,\u201d he added of the gala. \u201cI think he’ll always be my greatest role model in life, alongside my mom.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the original article on People<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEED TO KNOW Terri Irwin joked to PEOPLE about the one thing that sets her son, Robert Irwin,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[20776,458,146,85,46,20775,12781,38502,43543],"class_list":["post-424597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-bindi-irwin","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-robert-irwin","tag-steve-irwin","tag-terri-irwin","tag-wildlife-conservationist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}