Robert Irwin admits his Instagram DMs exploded after he stripped off for Bonds campaign: 'I'm in a scary place'
But Robert Irwin has now revealed the unexpected - and overwhelming - side effect of his new status as an Aussie heartthrob.
Speaking to Us Weekly ahead of the Steve Irwin Gala in Los Angeles, the 21-year-old conservationist admitted the fallout from the sultry shoot has been a lot to handle.
'I'm in a scary place right now,' he confessed. 'I've been kinda sorta avoiding the direct message section for a little bit.'
It comes after the internet went into meltdown over images of Robert posing shirtless in Bonds underwear - flaunting his ripped torso while cuddling up to native animals including a koala and snake.
The thirst was real – and so was the flood of cheeky DMs.
But Robert insists the shoot was never about vanity, and everything he does comes back to one thing: his passion for conservation.
'I really thought in modelling Bonds underwear or doing Dancing With the Stars, that sort of thing, I could bring in a whole new audience to listen to my conservation message,' he explained.
And he's sticking to that plan - just weeks ago, he announced he'd joined the cast of the US version of Dancing With The Stars, once again showing off his buff bod while cradling a snake for the promo.
'That's how I feel comfortable. That's who I am,' he said.
'It's all about this mission and I've got a real sense of purpose and passion. I got to achieve that.'
'I definitely feel like I'm really lucky that now I've got a whole new audience that I can reach and hopefully just put out a bit of positivity and hopefully say, "Life's for living at 100."'
It comes after Robert denied the photos from the Bonds campaign have been digitally altered.
Robert quickly put paid to the suggestion of digital chicanery, revealing that everything that appeared in the images was 100 per cent real.
'Mate, everything is 100 per cent real,' Robert confirmed during an interview with Karl Stefanovic on Today.
'Everything you see was all there. The spider - that was right there, the beautiful big black headed python that was all there.'
Robert continued: 'My abs - none of that was airbrushed. That was a lot of work - a lot of work and very little carbohydrates.'
Karl then asked Robert to clarify claims, published by New idea, that mum Terri had a problem with the Bonds shoot as it did not align with the Irwin family-friendly brand.
'Mum was fully on board,' Robert revealed. '[She] used to do bodybuilding so she was actually giving me tips.
'Bindi took a bit of convincing. It was a bit uncomfortable.
'I'm still not 100 per cent comfortable with some of it anyway, but you know what? We did it and you just got to own it and give it your all,' he said.
With Robert's steamy shoot setting hearts aflutter across the globe, Karl asked the I'm A Celebrity host how he is dealing with all the attention.
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