Bindi Irwin honors her late father, Steve Irwin, by continuing his conservation legacy at the Australia Zoo. His spirit is also living on in an unexpected way — and daughter Grace Warrior, 4, is the beneficiary of that magic.
On the June 5 episode of the Not Gonna Lie With Kylie Kelcie podcast, Bindi shared how her younger brother Robert, 21, embodies the spirit of their dad and shares it with his niece.
“He is such a good uncle,” gushed the 26-year-old mom of one. “We actually call him a ‘funcle’ as well. As Grace has grown up, she just gets more and more excited to go on Uncle Robert adventures because, you know, he kind of like pushes the limits a little.”
“He does fun things and exciting things, and so she loves it,” she continued. “He’s so present with her which I love so much. When we were growing up as kids, me and Robert, it was very similar with Dad. He would do the same thing with us where he would pick us up and be like, ‘OK, we are going to hike up this mountain while we’re heading to the Simpson Desert to research fear snakes.’
As kids, Bindi and Robert would happily follow Steve, who was “such an adventurer” — a trait that she also sees in her brother.
“I see that he is so similar to dad and I’m really glad that Grace is gonna have that energy in her life like she would’ve had from dad,” she added. It’s truly a tissue-grabbing moment because Steve lives on through his only son.
Bindi and her husband, Chandler Powell, are raising Grace to know all about her late grandfather even though he passed in 2006 at the age of 44. They are both able to see flashes of the late conservationist in their daughter.
“I see so much of dad and our beautiful daughter Grace,” Bindi told E! News in May 2024. “She has so much fiery, passionate energy about her. She just is a determined woman, and she never stops moving… She thinks that it’s her job to make all the make sure all the animals are cared for. She is the kindest and most beautiful soul while also having this fiery energy that’s like dad and I love it. I love it so much.”
From the sounds of it, Grace is ready to run the Australian Zoo even as a preschooler, and that would make her grandfather proud.
Before you go, click here to see which celebrity kids lost their parents too soon.
