Like mother, like daughter! Terri Irwin has revealed that her daughter Bindi, 21, met her fiancé Chandler Powell, 22, in the exact same way she met her late husband, conservation icon Steve Irwin.
Terri, 55, revealed that both she and Bindi met their future husbands during wildlife demonstrations at Queensland’s iconic Australia Zoo.
WATCH: Bindi Irwin Gushes Over Chandler Powell
‘We weren’t real young when we met. These guys were really young,’ Terri told American publication Us Weekly, as the family promoted season two of their Animal Planet reality show Crikey! It’s the Irwins.
‘But Steve was, like, 29 and I was 27, and the first thing you think is, “He’s probably in a relationship.” But I didn’t know how to say, “Hi, we’ve just met. Are you in a relationship?” I think he kind of sensed that, so he said, “Would you like to meet my girlfriend?” I just felt utterly crushed.’
But in true Steve style, he was having a laugh – and Terri was very happy with the outcome of the introduction.
‘So he called out, “Hey, Sue. Hey, Suey,” and here comes this little dog, Suey. I went, “Boom. Tick. No girlfriend.”’
Expectant groom Chandler, who like Terri was visiting on a vacation from the US, says he finds the similarities between his and Terri’s introductions to the Irwin family to be amazing.
‘It was so cool seeing the parallels,’ he told Us Weekly. ‘Because [Bindi and I met] right next to where Steve and Terri met [after] Steve had just finished a croc demonstration. I met Bindi right next door, and I was holding a koala and Bindi was holding an echidna, and it was just love at first sight.’
‘The Australia Zoo is where we met, where we got engaged and, obviously, where we’re going to get married, so it just all worked out perfectly that it’s fully incorporated into the zoo and who we are.’
Bindi expressed her excitement at the prospect of getting married at Australia Zoo next year.
‘It feels so right, because actually, coincidentally, next year is the Australia Zoo’s 50th anniversary,’ Bindi told the publication. ‘We were going, “Oh, my goodness, this is perfect. We’ll celebrate the 50th anniversary. We’ll get married.” The stars aligned so beautifully.’
Bindi Irwin has given the world a special sneak peek of her wedding dress on social media, and as expected, it’s stunning.
While it was only a shot of the sleeve detail, it’s apparent that the young conservationist might be paying a special tribute to her mother Terri Irwin’s wedding dress.
“I said yes to the dress 💍,” Irwin captioned the photo of an elegant lace sleeve, showing off her dazzling engagement ring.
Steve, who passed away in 2006, won’t be able to see his daughter get married to fiance Chandler Powell, but this small tribute might bring some joy to Terri, who has said she will never marry again.
“I’ve had my happily ever after and I still feel immense love and loyalty to Steve,” Terri told Entertainment Tonight in 2015.
“I’ve got great kids, I’ve got a very full life and while I’m lonely for Steve I’m not a lonely person. I think if I never met Steve I probably would have never married.”
Terri and Steve Irwin got married in 1992, with Terri wearing a similarly laced dress.