HEARTBREAK FOR TERRI IRWIN
THE FORMER COUPLE ARE CLOSER THAN EVER
For years Terri Irwin has made it clear she’s not been ready to move on from the memory of her late husband, Steve. But as her relationship with close family friend Russell Crowe appears to be gathering pace, the potential couple have hit a stumbling block: his ex, Danielle Spencer.
“It’s like one step forward and two steps back with Russ; every time he gets close to moving on from his ex wife,” a source close to the family explains.
Despite being separated for eight years and divorced for two, Russell and Danielle still remain incredibly close, are good friends and share parenting duties of their two sons, Tennyson, 14, and Charles, 16.
But in recent months, Danielle appears to have been dropping increasingly heavy hints that she’s considering a romantic reconciliation.
Last month, she posted several throwback photos of her and Russell embracing and gazing into each other’s eyes while paying tribute to George Ogilvie, who directed them in 1990’s The Crossing.
Then just last week, in a new interview, Danielle proclaimed how she and Russell “have a lot of respect for each other” and added, “I consider him to be a member of my family.” The insider now reveals that Terri suspects this is Danielle’s way of showing Russell that she hasn’t ruled out a romantic reunion.
Unsurprisingly, the Australia Zoo owner – who has become increasingly close to Russell over the years, despite always denying any romantic involvement – is feeling ‘blindsided’ by it.
“Danielle’s comments about how close she still is with Russell was a very bitter pill for Terri, who has been patiently waiting for all these years for Russ to move on from her,” says the source.
“She knows there is no chance they will get together for real while he’s still holding a torch for Dani, and doing that interview will only prolong that.” Although Russell has also refuted claims that he’s romantically involved with Terri, in the past he proclaimed how she is “one of the greatest
“SHE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST WOMEN I’VE EVER MET IN MY LIFE”
women I’ve ever met in my life”.
Since his good friend Steve died in 2006, Russell has been a steady presence of support and friendship for Terri.
“He leans on Terri so much, which she’s happy for him to do because she did the same with him when Steve died, and it’s fairly obvious the hope among Terri and Russell’s friends is that it will lead to something more when he’s finally worked through his pain, even after all these years,” says the insider.
Russell has spoken openly about how difficult he’s found separating from Danielle. In 2015, he even admitted to still being in love with her, saying in an interview with The
Sunday Times that his
“feelings for her have never changed”.
Even as recently as 2018 he said on a 2GB radio appearance that he found the divorce process very painful.
“No matter how positive you are and in agreement with the fact that you are separating, there’s still a lot of really deep things to unwind.”
Meanwhile Danielle, in her recent Stellar magazine interview, made it clear that things between her and her ex are very civilised.
“The marriage ended, but that didn’t mean our friendship ended. We’ve had holidays together in the past and we can happily sit down and chat,” she said.
But comments like these will no doubt cause complications for her ex and his potential new partner.
“When Dani continues to throw out these public breadcrumbs, there’s a fear that Terri’s got no hope. It’s a real shame, because Russ and Terri deserve to be happy and they would be great together, but the baggage between Dani and Russell is very real.”