In the interview with GQ, Rob discussed what his dad was doing at his age.
"He’d been spending months at a time out in the bush, rescuing crocs, honing his craft, his skills and then becoming, you know, the most well-known wildlife conservationist in history,” says Rob.
Now, Rob is determined to continue that work.
“He’s not around anymore to push his message,” Rob says. “Now it’s my job.”
“When you lose someone like that and it’s such a public thing—you’re three years old, you’re growing up without a father—it’s incredibly difficult. It is indescribably difficult.
“But on the other side of that, now, when people come up to me and share a story of when they met Dad, tell me how much his documentary meant to them, I almost feel like I get a little piece of him back.”
The new I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! Australia host has also made a point of carving out his own path, finding new ways to connect with the late Crocodile Hunter by bringing his passion for conservation and photography together.
"You know, all my life all I've ever wanted was to be exactly like Dad, but also to find my own place in his world," the wildlife warrior shared recently in a candid new interview with The Courier Mail.
"I was just itching to find that place and photography gave me that. But it also gave me a connection to Dad and a purpose."
The wildlife warrior released his first photography book titled Robert Irwin's Australia in 2022, to critical acclaim.
According to Robert, pursuing photography was another means of advancing his father's legacy.
"Everything he did, everything he recorded, everything he documented, well, it kind of stopped, and it stopped abruptly, which is what happens when someone dies unexpectedly," he shared.
"And this is one of my ways of continuing his work."
This isn't the first time Robert has reflected upon his hopes for the future, and his dreams for the future to keep Steve's incredible legacy alive.
"I think what dad really showed the world was, of course, to have that appreciation for the natural world and to treat every living being on this planet as you would wish to be treated," the teenager told E! News in October 2022.
"I think that's something that I'll always carry with me," he added.
Robert, who was only two years old when his father tragically, and unexpectedly died, said that the extraordinary way Steve lived his life inspired him.
"I think that more than anything, I would hope that I really continue this message that life is short and we have to live every day to the fullest," he shared.
"I'll always just feel so lucky that I had the most amazing dad in the world, who was literally a superhero."
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