Robert Irwin Admits Dating as a Public Figure Is ‘So Challenging to Navigate’

Dating has its challenges for everyone, even Robert Irwin!

The 21-year-old conservationist recently offered a life update during a Sunday, Nov. 23 interview with The New York Times, which came as he prepares to compete in the Dancing with the Stars season 34 finale. Robert, who is the son of late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, has been in the public eye since his televised birth, and he said that there isn’t much people don’t know about him.

“I never change what I say, what I do, who I am one bit, wherever I am,” he explained, noting he has “no persona to hide behind.” 

“It’s just me, and I stand by who I am,” he continues.

One thing Robert does try to keep private are the details of his dating life.

“Holy moly, that’s so challenging to navigate,” he admitted, particularly when “anything you do will be on TikTok the next day.”

In September, Robert opened up to PEOPLE about what he’s looking for in a relationship.

“My mom and dad met when she was this American tourist coming over to Australia, and that’s also how my sister met her husband,” he explained of dad Steve and mom Terri, as well as his sister Bindi and her husband Chandler Powell. “I’ve been saying, when is that going to happen for me?!”

“I’m still waiting for it,” he added. “That American tourist is not quite lined up.”

Curiosity surrounding Robert’s romantic life has soared since it was announced that he was joining DWTS in April. That month, he even did a shirtless underwear campaign with Bonds, leaving Bindi, 27, feeling protective over her little brother.

“We’re about five and a half years apart, so I kinda feel like his second mom where I’m kind of a mother hen,” she said on a June episode of Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce. “I’m, like, always trying to protect him, make sure he’s okay, and I have been that way his whole life.” 

She then admitted: “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 he’s doing really well with all of it, and I am very proud of him.”

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His DWTS partner Witney Carson later revealed that she was getting an onslaught of DMs from fans wanting to date Robert when the show premiered in September.

“Girls, I love ya, thank you for the applications through somehow my email and flooding the DMs,” the dancing pro wrote on her Instagram Stories at the time. “If I could line you all up with Robert, I would because you’re all 10/10 perfect cuties.”

“We are currently dancing our lives away so we are unable to respond,” Carson went on to say, joking, “Robert for The Bachelor?! Idk this is too stressful for me to handle lol!”