Bindi Irwin has spoken candidly about the “tricky decision” to uproot her family and move to the US. The 27-year-old mother said the transition is temporary so she and her family can support her brother Robert as he competes on Dancing With the Stars.
Bindi, her husband Chandler Powell, and their daughter Grace normally live at Australia Zoo, where she said their “whole world revolves around” conservation work. Now, the family, including mother Terri, are front and centre at the ballroom for Robert’s performances.
“More than anything else, it’s about being together as a family and supporting each other,” Bindi told the Dancing With The Stars podcast.
Bindi won the show herself 10 years ago and recounted how much it meant when her family did the same for her, but later joked about some aspects of his performances she “cannot unsee”.
“I know from my season my family was there every step of the way and I wanted to be able to do that for Robert,” she said.
“He was, oh my goodness, 10, 11? When I did my season and he was there every show, cheering for me in the audience, and it meant so much.”
Robert’s performance last week was emotionally charged, paying tribute to Terri for the role she played in keeping their father Steve a part of their lives after his shock death 2006.
Bindi was eight and Robert was just two-years-old.
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‘Teeny tiny’ to ‘giant’ shirtless man: Robert Irwin’s transformation
A picture of “tiny” Robert grinning in the audience was shared during Bindi’s interview.
He has attracted a lot of attention since taking the stage, wowing audiences with his moves and proving he is all grown up.
Robert left fans around the world a little hot under the collar with a risqué dance in his second week when he stripped off for a sexy salsa.
He playfully apologised to the family after, noting the family “weren’t expecting … the hips”.
But Bindi can see the lighter side.
“As his older sister, I mean, to me, he will always be this little teeny, tiny blonde boy, and now he’s this giant man,” she said.
“Who’s taking his shirt off a lot.
“It’s a lot for me as a sister; there are some things you cannot unsee.”
Bindi Irwin offers fans a glimpse into life in the States
The Wildlife Warrior recently gave her 5.8 million followers a “little glimpse” into her new life in the States with her family.
She also shared photos of Chandler, Grace and her at Disneyland, as well as other sweet moments with her daughter, who has dressed up for the DWTS performances.
Terri described her oldest daughter as “such a beautiful mama,” while Chandler added: “Grace and I both love you so much.”
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Robert’s dancing partner, Witney Carson, also commented on the post, “Stunning inside and out.”
“You beautiful Mumma. Thank you for allowing us a peak in to your life,” one follower wrote.
“Can see your Dad in your smile,” another said. “He is beaming with pride watching over his family.”
“Crikey, she’s a beauty!” a third added.
Many others also welcomed her to the US, with some saying they’d “missed her”.
Robert Irwin and Witney Carson have been changed for good since becoming partners on Dancing With the Stars.
And for Wicked night on Oct. 21, the wildlife conservationist and the dance pro will be performing a jazz routine to “Dancing Through Life.”
You could say their friendship has been magical from the beginning. Remembering Witney from when his sister Bindi Irwin won Dancing With the Stars in 2015, Robert just had a hunch they’d be paired together once he was ready to step into the ballroom himself.
“As a family we would always kind of talk about, ‘I bet I’d end up getting partnered with Witney,'” he said on the Oct. 15 episode of The Viall Files. “It was this weird feeling I had.”
So when they actually were matched up, Robert continued, it felt like a “full-circle moment.”
“This is 10 years in the making. Here we are,” he remembered thinking. “I instantly felt so protected. Witney’s become like an older sister so quickly.”
Dubbing themselves “Team IrWINit,” Robert and Witney quickly proved they were ready to rumble—er, more like rumba—and were among those to receive the highest scores from judges Derek Hough, Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno Tonioli during the first two weeks.
“All of my confidence comes from Witney,” the 21-year-old acknowledged. “It comes from leaning on the experience that we have in rehearsals, trusting your body, trusting the process, trusting your partner. This whole thing is the ultimate trust fall. You just gotta give yourself to it. I’ve never done anything like this, but I’ve got the best ever to guide me through this process. So I’m just like full trust, all in, send it. I don’t even care. I’m just going to give it every ounce of what I’ve got and hope for the best.”
Even when they’ve slipped down in the standings, they haven’t wanted to bow out.
“We’ve started at the top of the leader board. We’ve come down to third place,” Robert said during Disney night Oct. 7, “so it’s a reminder to step up.”
In fact, they’re both stepping it up when it comes to going outside their comfort zones. Like when Robert brought Witney to visit an alligator during week three.
“I feel like we’ve both thrown each other in the deep end,” he told Access Hollywood Oct. 3. “Like, boom—straight into a salsa, straight in with an alligator.”
And just as how Robert kept Witney safe during their gators encounter, she’s been careful about him diving into the dating pool.
“You have to go through a screening process,” the 32-year-old—who shares two children with husband Carson McAllister—told E! News in September. “Submit your applications through my DMs and then I will forward them to Bindi and then we will see about the American tourist.”
Indeed, whether in or out of the ballroom, Robert and Witney are there for each other. Her support was on full display when he performed his Dedication Night dance in honor of his mom Terri Irwin and he was moved to tears as he spoke about how his mother was there for him following the 2006 death of his father Steve Irwin.
“It’s been such a hard week for so many reasons,” Robert told E! Oct. 14. “I’ve been kind of navigating emotions I’ve never really expressed, certainly not publicly, and I would not have been able to do that, I wouldn’t have been able to express that, I wouldn’t have been able to even think about achieving what we achieved this week without Witney—without her incredible choreography, obviously, but also for her incredible support personally and her understanding. Because above all, Witney Carson McAllister is a boss mom. It’s pretty cool: A dance for moms made by one of the coolest moms around.”
Ultimately, it seems like fans are giving this friendship a 10. As Robert previously told E! News about his bond with Witney, “We have a new adopted member of the Irwin family now.”
