FAM TRADITION
‘Crikey! It’s the Irwins’ keeps legacy alive
Bindi Irwin was 8 years old when she went to her mother, Terri, with a simple request.
It had been three weeks since her father, Steve Irwin, died in a tragic stingray accident. And while the Crocodile Hunter’s family had suddenly been plunged into mourning, his young daughter wanted to know one thing: When were the cameras going to start rolling again?
“Everyone will deal with grief. If you love someone, you’re going to have to deal with that,” Terri Bindi told the Daily News. “When Steve died, it was a challenging time. (But) about three weeks after, Bindi said to me, ‘So when are we going to film (the TV series ‘Bindi the Jungle Girl’) again?’ And I thought, for Bindi, that’s her normal.”
It’s been 12 years since the Irwin family was forced to adapt to its new normal without the beloved conservationist, zookeeper and TV personality. But one thing’s for certain: the Aussie’s crocloving legacy lives on in his wife, 20-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son Robert.
The trio’s passion for pandas, pythons and everything in between will be put on full display in their new Animal Planet series, “Crikey! It’s the Irwins!”which tracks the family’s adventures living and working in the Australia Zoo.
“I really believe that the stars aligned,” Bindi Irwin says of teaming up for television with her family on the same network that aired her dad’s iconic series “The Crocodile Hunter” from 1997 to 2004. “You know how we all live many lives in one lifetime? I feel like this a beautiful new chapter of our lives.”
Bindi Irwin is no stranger to the small screen, having starred in her own Discovery Kids series in 2007-08 and having waltzed her way to a “Dancing With the Stars” crown in 2015.
But “Crikey!,” whose title borrows inspiration from her dad’s famous catchphrase, puts her more in her element than the star-studded streets of Hollywood.
Take, for instance, a scene in an upcoming episode. In a flashback, Steve Irwin, donning his signature khaki getup and hiking boots, carefully feeds Graham, one of his favorite crocs.
Flash-forward a decade, and there’s a teenage Robert Irwin — the spitting image of his father — feeding Graham just as his dad did years before.
The moment, while exhilarating — Graham has a reputation as a cranky croc — is a poignant reminder that for the family, Steve Irwin was more than a catchphrase-spewing wildlife wrangler. He was a dad and husband, and his memory still lingers in both the family’s daily life and their overarching message that animals are not to be feared, but loved.
“Working with crocodiles and working with the Australia Zoo in general, that’s really where we feel closest to Dad,” Robert Irwin says. “When you walk around the zoo, you can certainly still feel his presence …. (The show) is all about Dad, and how we’re continuing the work that he started.
Besides Graham, other familiar faces fans of “Crocodile Hunter” may recognize include that of Wes Mannion, Steve Irwin’s best friend and the director of the Australia Zoo.
“What Dad ultimately wanted is for people to have life-changing wildlife experiences, and then take home this greater message of conservation and maybe a connection with animals that they never believed they had.”
For her, that connection exists with all animals, but mostly the porcupine-esque echidna — “They’re adorable!” — while Robert Irwin, like his dad, is especially keen on crocodiles.
What can’t be understated about the Irwin offspring is the infectiousness of their childlike wonder. Even if you’ve never given a second thought to crocs, you will leave a conversation with the Irwins an enthusiastic member of the crocodile fan club. Just ask Jimmy Fallon, whom Robert Irwin charmed on “The Tonight Show” in May.
It’s a trait their father shared, too, and the one that propelled him to international fame.
“He’d say, ‘I don’t care if people remember me, I care if people remember my message,’ ” Bindi Irwin says.
If that’s the case, then crikey! Steve and Terri Irwin raised the right kids for the job.
“Crikey! It’s the Irwins” premieres Sunday at 8 p.m. ET on Animal Planet.