Sixteen years have passed since Steve Irwin tragically died at sea, and in this time his family members have worked relentlessly to ensure his legacy as a wildlife warrior lives on.
His widow Terri, 58, and now-adult children Bindi, 24, and Robert, 18, desperately cling to his memory through shrines dotted around their beloved Australia Zoo.
WATCH: Steve Irwin talks about his love for daughter Bindi Irwin
Frequent social media tributes also paint Steve as an all-round action hero and loving dad.
Recently, however, an interview given by Steve’s former right-hand man threatened to shatter the very image and memory his kids have built for him.
Justin Lyons, a cameraman who worked alongside Steve for more than 10 years until his death, has spilled family secrets that remained under an emotional lock and key – until now.
In a wide-ranging chat with Daily Mail Australia, Justin, who was filming Steve the moment a stingray barb fatally pierced his chest off the coast of Queensland, opened up about his relationship with the Crocodile Hunter, his family and Australia Zoo.
“Steve is still front and centre on their billboards,” he says. “I see him weekly. You hear stuff about the kids all the time … After all these years, there he is.”
Characterising Steve as “flawed”, Justin also makes the bombshell allegation that Bindi wasn’t initially interested in following her father’s footsteps into wildlife conservation.
“Bindi and I spent a lot of time together,” Jason, 50, claims.
“We’d go up to Far North Queensland and while they were doing whatever, Bindi and I would go off. She’d say to me, ‘I don’t really like bugs,’ but she was expected to do all this crazy stuff. I don’t think she really wanted to do it.”
As the dust settles from the sensational interview, those close to the “rocked” Irwin clan say they are determined to fight back, especially Bindi.
“Bindi doesn’t really want to get into a back and forth with a man who’s had nothing to do with her family for years. But when it involves the memory of her dad, she wants her side of it out there,” says one source.
“She is really disappointed by Justin’s interview and knows her dad would be too.”
“Everyone knows how Bindi, Terri and Robert all feel about sharing any details of their dad’s tragic final hours, and here’s someone Steve trusted with his life doing just that. It’s beyond the pale,” the source continued.
