Robert Irwin Vows To Carry on Late Dad Steve’s Legacy, Says He’d Be ‘Stoked’ To See Him on ‘DWTS’

The late Steve Irwin would be proud.

“A lot of people often ask me, oh it must be tough, you know, everyday you’re reminded of your dad,” Robert Irwin, who is competing on season 34 of Dancing with the Stars,  told E! in a video posted on Friday, September 19.

“I say really it’s not, it’s actually one of the greatest joys in my life. If I can keep his sense of passion and enthusiasm and his work as an environmental advocate, if I can keep that alive and thriving into a new generation, I’ve done my job,” continued the conservationist, who helps run the Australia Zoo that was established by his father.

Steve was famously known for his Crocodile Hunter reality show. Robert was just 2 years old when his dad died at age 44 in 2006 after an encounter with a sting ray.

“I never expected in a million years that I’d be able to do that through dance,” added Robert, now 21, who is at the top of the DWTS leaderboard after his first night competing with partner Witney Carson. “I don’t know what dad would say if he were here, but I think he’d be pretty stoked!”

And while Robert’s sister, Bindi, 27, won season 21 of the long-running competition, the siblings’ skills apparently weren’t inherited from their dad, according to their mother, Terri.

“Mum said that he had the furthest thing from any sense of rhythm,” joked Robert.