Bob Irwin has opened up about his ongoing estrangement from his grandchildren, Bindi and Robert, saying he is open to reconciliation.
‘That’s life’ said Bob when questioned about the reason for his well-publicised fall-out with his son Steve’s family, while promoting his new book The Last Crocodile Hunter: A Father and Son Legacy.
Revealing details of the rift in his memoir, Bob says he distanced himself from the family after he left Australia Zoo in 2008.
‘There were personal consequences to leaving the zoo as well, among them that my relationship with Steve’s children, would suffer,’ he writes.
‘Naturally that wasn’t something I was happy about. I had so many stories of Steve and my adventures that I would have loved to have told the kids.’
When asked if he would like to one day reunite with his grandkids, Bob remained stoic.
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘But I do have other grandchildren obviously and I spend considerable time with them.’
Opening up about the estrangement last year, Bindi revealed she and her brother Robert hadn’t seen their grandfather in years.
‘When my dad passed away he [Bob] chose to distance himself from everything that Dad loved the most…’ she said. ‘At the moment we’re really just respecting his wishes because he hasn’t had anything to do with us for a long time and he decided his own path. That’s important so good for him.”
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