Robert Irwin Gets Teary-Eyed Hearing Late Dad Steve Irwin Talk About His Legacy: ‘It’s an Honor’

Robert Irwin recently got emotional after hearing a message from his late father, Steve Irwin.

On Tuesday, June 24, the zookeeper, 21, was a guest on BBC Radio 2’s The Scott Mills Breakfast Show, where host Scott Mills played him an old clip of Steve talking about his dream of having Robert and his sister, Bindi, follow in his footsteps as conservationists.

“Is there anything in this world that would want to make me give away what I’m doing now? Yes. Yes, there is. When my children can take the football that I call wildlife conservation and run it up,” the The Crocodile Hunter star said in the video. “I guarantee you it’ll be the proudest moment of my life. And my job will be done.”

“Then and only then will I know that I have achieved my ultimate goal to be able to stand aside and let them run up my mission,” he added.

Robert appeared teary-eyed as he listened to his dad’s words. “It’s emotional to hear that. It means so much, and, you know, when you dedicate your life to a legacy, it really makes you think about how we all get to create our legacy,” and told Mills, 51.

“He is my superhero. Yeah. He always will be, and he was, I think, a superhero to an entire generation. Every day, there is not a day goes by where someone doesn’t share a story about him,” the Crikey! It’s the Irwin’s alum reflected. “It really means the absolute world, and it’s an honor. It really is an honor to make sure everything he lived and died for continues.”

The radio show posted the clip on Instagram, and fans took to the comment section to discuss the emotional moment.

“In tears… Steve would be so proud of Robert and Bindi .. he was a superhero to all of us ❤️,” one fan wrote.

“Cried watching this…. So emotional and filled with fatherly love,” a second fan commented.

“Well this was beautiful and made me cry,” a third fan penned. “Robert is so well spoken and handles these difficult moments with such grace.”

The beloved wildlife educator tragically passed away in 2006 at 44 years old after a stingray fatally pierced his chest while filming in the Great Barrier Reef. Since then, both Robert and Bindi, 26 — who Steve shared with his beloved wife Terri — have followed in their dad’s footsteps and become conservationists themselves. Robert also works at the Australia Zoo in Queensland, which his mom now owns.