Bindi Irwin admits she's ‘scared' by some of her brother's more intense fans

Miami Herald

2 days ago

On Thursday, June 5, wildlife conservationist Bindi Irwin joined Kylie Kelce on her 'Not Gonna Lie' podcast.
During their conversation, Bindi Irwin talked about being a mother-figure to her younger brother, Robert Irwin, who has over the years found massive fame as he continues to follow in their late father Steve Irwin's footsteps.
Most recently, Robert Irwin nearly broke the internet with his Bonds campaign in which he posted photos and videos wearing only Bonds briefs and an exotic snake.
During her conversation with Bindi Irwin, Kelce applauded Robert Irwin for the way in which he used the attention to push focus to their charity Wildlife Warriors.
While Bindi Irwin admitted she could do without photos of her younger brother in his underwear going viral on social media, she shared how proud she is of him.
'Watching him grab people's attention in such a big way, and then pivot and say, 'Here's what we do. Here's our work. Here's our dedication to wildlife and conservation. And you can get involved,'' Bindi Irwin said, agreeing with Kelce's praise. 'It is wonderful and extraordinary to watch him just shine.'
Bindi Irwin continued, saying, 'He's my little brother. We're about five and a half years apart, so I kind of feel like his second mum. I'm kind of a mother-hen. I'm like, always trying to protect him, make sure he's okay. And I have been that way his whole life.'
'Now just watching him shine and flourish and find his own path and voice. It is so inspiring,' the proud sister added, before admitting that sometimes her brother's more intense fans do worry her a little bit.
'Do I get a little bit scared of the women and girls and some guys that kind of are very intense? It's a lot. It can be a lot, but, but he's doing really well with all of it, and I'm very proud of him.'
And when Robert Irwin's not doing what he needs to do to spread conservation awareness, Bindi Irwin says he's known as the 'funcle,' or 'fun uncle' to her 4-year-old daughter Grace, much like Travis Kelce is known as the 'funcle' to Kylie and Jason Kelce's four daughters.
'He is such a good uncle,' Bindi Irwin said of her brother. 'We actually call him a 'funcle' as well. It's so cool too, because as Grace has grown up, like she just gets more and more excited to go on Uncle Robert adventures. Because, you know, he, he kind of, like pushes the limits a little he does, he does fun things and exciting things. And so she loves it. And he's, he is so present with her, which I love so much.'
It's because of Robert Irwin that Grace gets to know what it would be like if her grandfather Steve Irwin were still around.
'It's the same when we were growing up as kids, me and Robert, it's very similar with dad. He would do the same thing, where he would just pick us up and be like, 'Okay, we're going to go hike up this mountain. Or we're heading to the Simpson Desert to research fear snakes.' And off we would go. And it was just normal to us,' Bindi Irwin shared.
'And I love that dad was such an adventurer, and I see that in Robert. I see he is so similar to dad, and I'm really glad that Grace is going to have that energy in her life like she would have had from dad.'
Not only that, but both Kelce and Bindi agreed that Robert and Travis have the energy to get on the floor and really play with their respective children. 'You've got them. I'm gonna have a warm cup of coffee five minutes and maybe have a shower, because that would be nice.'