Speaker 1: That's okay, becaus no one here is Hello. Hello, Hello,
Speaker 1: and welcome to the newest episode of teen Beat. I
Speaker 1: am your adult host Danielle Fischel, podcaster, TV director, recent
Speaker 1: ballroom competitor, mom of two, and a former child actor
Speaker 1: who spent all of her teenage years in front of
Speaker 1: cameras and a live studio audience as Topanga Lawrence on
Speaker 1: the nineties TV show Boy Meets World. From my first
Speaker 1: kiss to my first haircut. You saw it all every
Speaker 1: Friday night on your local ABIES affiliate, and now, more
Speaker 1: than thirty years later, it's time I turn the tables.
Speaker 1: Every week, I'm sitting with a celebrity, someone who has
Speaker 1: made their wildest dreams come true, hoping I can now
Speaker 1: expose their childhoods to the world in an almost tip
Speaker 1: for tat situation, assuming it will give us a glimpse
Speaker 1: into the person they are today. Since their first pimple
Speaker 1: wasn't also broadcast as part of a TGIF block of programming,
Speaker 1: the least they can do is share it with me. Now,
Speaker 1: I gave you my childhood, it's time we hear yours.
Speaker 1: And on this episode, as a teenager who spent most
Speaker 1: of her free time shopping at the mall, carrying a
Speaker 1: vanilla I splendid extra vanilla and complaining about boys. I'm
Speaker 1: ready to finally walk a little on the wilder side.
Speaker 1: My guest was raised in Eugene, Oregon, the youngest of
Speaker 1: three daughters in a family that was concerned about the
Speaker 1: environment at a time when most people figured that was
Speaker 1: as Captain Planet's job. Her father owned a trucking company,
Speaker 1: bringing home wild animals he would find injured on the
Speaker 1: highway in order to nurse them back to health, and
Speaker 1: from that moment on, she'd dedicate her life to conservatism
Speaker 1: and preserving all forms of wildlife, eventually becoming one of
Speaker 1: the world's most beloved zookeepers. Her interests and related travels
Speaker 1: would bring her to Australia at the age of twenty seven.
Speaker 1: Her interests in related travels would bring her to Australia
Speaker 1: at the age of twenty seven, where she would meet
Speaker 1: her future husband, Steve Irwin, in a chance encounter at
Speaker 1: a wildlife rehabilitation center you know where we all hang
Speaker 1: out on vacations. They would marry eight months later, film
Speaker 1: their first documentary during their honeymoon, and the rest is history.
Speaker 1: They'd have two children, Bindi and Robert, before Steve's death
Speaker 1: from an injury sustained while filming their wildly popular TV
Speaker 1: series The Crocodile Hunter. Overnight, she would become a single
Speaker 1: mother and single zoo keeper, taking over every aspect of
Speaker 1: the family business, the Australia Zoo in bear Walk, Queensland,
Speaker 1: making sure her husband's legacy continued well beyond not only
Speaker 1: his life, but for generations to come. Today I will
Speaker 1: talk to her not only about her own backstory, but
Speaker 1: also how she navigated the teenage years of her own children,
Speaker 1: two absolute gems who have now individually captured the hearts
Speaker 1: of both Australia and the United States, reminding the world
Speaker 1: not only of her mission statement on conservatism, but also
Speaker 1: just pure kindness. To say she is impressive is a
Speaker 1: gross understatement, But I know, deep down, somewhere inside there
Speaker 1: might just be an awkward teenager. Let's find out with
Speaker 1: my teen beat guest this week, the Pride of Australia,
Speaker 1: Missus Terry Irwin. Terry, thank you so much for talking
Speaker 1: to me. I really don't think there is a single
Speaker 1: human being in the world that wouldn't jump at the
Speaker 1: opportunity to learn more. About you. So I consider myself
Speaker 1: to be very lucky.
Speaker 2: Well that's very kind because I was thinking, who wouldn't
Speaker 2: jump at the opportunity to have a chat with you?
Speaker 2: Because this is really special. So thank you very much
Speaker 2: for thinking of me.
Speaker 1: Really, of course, you were truly one of the very
Speaker 1: first people I thought of, especially after getting to know
Speaker 1: your family just the tiniest bit during Dancing with the Stars,
Speaker 1: I thought to myself, Wow, that is a woman who
Speaker 1: should be studied. That's somebody who has a perspective to
Speaker 1: share that everyone can benefit from. So I would like
Speaker 1: to start by talking about your dad a little bit,
Speaker 1: and yeah, yes, and your life in Oregon. So he
Speaker 1: owned a trucking company, right, and he would bring home
Speaker 1: wounded animals that he would encounter on the highway for rehabilitation.
Speaker 1: Can you describe what this like makeshift VET scenario looked
Speaker 1: like at your home where you would rehab these animals?
Speaker 2: Sure? Thing, Now, I was very lucky to have such
Speaker 2: terrific parents, and my dad was just amazing because you know,
Speaker 2: he's the guy who grew up in the Depression, was
Speaker 2: in World War Two, was a motorcycle cop and then
Speaker 2: finally landed driving heavy haul truck, so he would drive
Speaker 2: all over the place and then come home with little
Speaker 2: animals that may need help. But he was also very
Speaker 2: good at building things, and he really gave me these
Speaker 2: gifts with how to approach life, to treat other living beings,
Speaker 2: and I felt very lucky to have that upbringing. So
Speaker 2: I can remember one time in particular, he brought home
Speaker 2: these mcganzer ducks, and just for starters, I had no
Speaker 2: idea what a mcganzer duck was, and I'm like seven
Speaker 2: years old.
Speaker 1: I also don't know what a mcganzer duck is.
Speaker 2: Yes, so this duck comes in these ducklings, right, because
Speaker 2: the mama was hit by a car. So he brings
Speaker 2: the ducklings and they have a thin bill with kind
Speaker 2: of serrated edges, so they're not like platypus bill. They're
Speaker 2: like like little knives, yeah, little knives. Yeah yeah yeah
Speaker 2: yeah yeah. So we're like, this is confusing. This is
Speaker 2: a duck, but it's not interested in grain or anything.
Speaker 2: What do we do? So when I was seven, the
Speaker 2: way we googled was called the Encyclopedia Britannic.
Speaker 1: So love a good encyclopedia, set, Love a good Encyclopedia
Speaker 1: set yes.
Speaker 2: So we were looking up what on earth is this
Speaker 2: and discovered that Mcganser ducks who are really cute when
Speaker 2: they grow up. They have this real cool haircut and
Speaker 2: they're just darling little things. But they eat things like
Speaker 2: little minnows and worms and insects. And so my dad
Speaker 2: put something together for these ducks with a kid's wading pool,
Speaker 2: and we would go down to the creek and we
Speaker 2: would catch minnows, hundreds of minnows, and then we would
Speaker 2: go out at night, and he taught me to take
Speaker 2: a flashlight and put red cellophane on it, because when
Speaker 2: the night crawlers came out of the ground at night
Speaker 2: and you shone a light on them, the little worms
Speaker 2: would disappear back into the earth, but the red light
Speaker 2: they didn't see, so that you could pick up the
Speaker 2: earth worms to feed the ducks. And the ducks were
Speaker 2: so tiny that they would eat a worm and the
Speaker 2: worm would like move them because they were little and
Speaker 2: the worm was big. But I learned how to catch
Speaker 2: night crawlers, how to feed these ducklings, and took care
Speaker 2: of them until they were big enough to fly, which
Speaker 2: was really special.
Speaker 1: It strikes me hearing you tell that story that it
Speaker 1: seems like a lot of the most influential men in
Speaker 1: your life have had such a wonderful mix of strong
Speaker 1: masculinity mixed with a lot of that other like divine
Speaker 1: feminine side. That's that's very empathetic and caring for animals.
Speaker 1: Like what what wonderful representation for a man you know
Speaker 1: to have both?
Speaker 2: I agree, I agree, And what great lessons to learn,
Speaker 2: like I can remember. Of course, I wanted to keep
Speaker 2: them forever and ever. And he said to me, he said,
Speaker 2: look at your bedroom. You have everything you need in here.
Speaker 2: You have toys, you have a window with a view.
Speaker 2: He said, imagine if I brought you your food in
Speaker 2: your room, but you never got to leave your room.
Speaker 2: And I was like, hmmm, I'd get pretty bored. So
Speaker 2: he said, that's why you have to totally let stuff go.
Speaker 2: So I went, oh, I get it. Even though they're
Speaker 2: happy and healthy, they want to fly and do their
Speaker 2: own things. Yeah, very good at explaining things to me
Speaker 2: as well. But I always appreciated that. And I found
Speaker 2: his kindness a strength, you know, being willing to stop
Speaker 2: and help and fix the problem and come to the
Speaker 2: end solution and let them go. So it was really
Speaker 2: really special. But you're right. I've always admired men who
Speaker 2: are so secure in their masculinity that they can raise
Speaker 2: everyone up. They're not like I have to be the
Speaker 2: top dog and be all tough. I want to raise
Speaker 2: you up and have you succeed and do well and
Speaker 2: do what you love.
Speaker 1: I love that. What were you like in high school?
Speaker 1: Tell me about teenage, Terry. I like to think about
Speaker 1: you just walk around nursing squirrels and rabbits in the halls.
Speaker 1: But I suspect you and I may not have been
Speaker 1: so different in high school. What were you like?
Speaker 2: Well, I see, I think we may have been different, Okay,
Speaker 2: because I imagine you as the cool kid and I
Speaker 2: was kind of kind of not quite as cool.
Speaker 1: Ok I beg to differ. I imagine that people just didn't
Speaker 1: recognize your cool.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 1: That's okay.
Speaker 2: I was the mysterious, veiled cool kid.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: But yeah, I was really passionate about working. So from
Speaker 2: the time I was a tiny tot, I loved to work.
Speaker 2: And whether I had a lemonade stand or I was
Speaker 2: picking beans. Robert always loves my picking bean story, and Bendy,
Speaker 2: you'll say don't ask her her picking bean story, because
Speaker 2: I picked beans all summer and may fifty dollars. And now,
Speaker 2: in the real world, who would work three months for
Speaker 2: fifty dollars? I mean, come on, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: Wait, what what kind of pick Who were you picking
Speaker 1: beans for?
Speaker 2: Well, there's you know, it's just a farm that had
Speaker 2: string beans and you could be gainfully employed to pick
Speaker 2: beans and then save a weigh them at the end
Speaker 2: of the day, and then you got however much per pound,
Speaker 2: and then they would sell the beans. So they had
Speaker 2: a lot of I think the child labors the wrong word.
Speaker 2: That they had a lot of young people that picked.
Speaker 1: They had a lot of young people who were eager
Speaker 1: and didn't know that maybe they were being slightly taken
Speaker 1: advantage of.
Speaker 2: So by high school I had this kind of work ethic,
Speaker 2: and I started working in the family business around that time,
Speaker 2: and so I was working. We had business that it
Speaker 2: was primarily a pilot car company, and pilot cars are
Speaker 2: the ones that go in front of and behind of
Speaker 2: great big loads on a truck, whether it's logging equipment
Speaker 2: or a giant boat or whatever. The truck needs help
Speaker 2: getting through traffic because it's too big yes, So you'd
Speaker 2: drive a car and help them through traffic, and we'd also,
Speaker 2: you know, do the lollipop girl thing, directing traffic on
Speaker 2: the road for road construction or a rec scene. If
Speaker 2: there was a truck that had an accident, you'd be
Speaker 2: out there directing traffic. So my high school experience was
Speaker 2: doing school but then also working in the family business.
Speaker 2: So I felt pretty lucky. And it was also a
Speaker 2: transition point because I went to school with the same
Speaker 2: kids from kindergarten through ninth grade, but then going into
Speaker 2: high school in tenth grade, everything was new because the
Speaker 2: school I went to didn't have ten, eleven, twelve grades,
Speaker 2: so was new friends and all that as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, did you date in high school? Did you ever
Speaker 1: go to a school dance?
Speaker 2: Yes? Well it was a funny thing because my parents
Speaker 2: had a couple of rules. Okay, so when it was
Speaker 2: like depression era, that was about all your entertainment. People
Speaker 2: would have like a square dance in the barn or
Speaker 2: everyone would get together and dancing was free. So when
Speaker 2: everyone would get together and dance, if someone was dancing
Speaker 2: with someone else and there was a little bit of conflict,
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, Henry was dancing with Lola and Lola's
Speaker 2: married to Bert. You know, it was scandalous. So my
Speaker 2: parents said, you know, nothing good comes from this. So
Speaker 2: there was like no dancing, So no dancing, no dancing.
Speaker 1: You had like a Kevin Bacon upbringing, like no dancing,
Speaker 1: dancing was it was, yeah, okay, that's very interesting. I
Speaker 1: mean I understand, I understand the perspective where I understand. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they had seen a lot of scandal come from dancing
Speaker 1: and intermingling, and they decided we don't want to bring
Speaker 1: the scandal into our family.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I respected that because instead of just saying no,
Speaker 2: it was like, here's the reason. And the other thing
Speaker 2: I wasn't allowed to do is go to drive in movies.
Speaker 2: So I've been to drive in movies obviously, but when
Speaker 2: I was in my you know, teens, like fifteen sixteen,
Speaker 2: it was like, no doube. And now I would give
Speaker 2: anything to find a good drive in theater because the
Speaker 2: nostalgia is so wonderful. But yeah, other than that, it
Speaker 2: was you know, pretty much having friends and getting together
Speaker 2: during the summer and doing school work together. And I
Speaker 2: felt very blessed because I had kind of across the
Speaker 2: board friends, So I didn't just hang out with the
Speaker 2: cool girls or the sporty guys or the nerdy science club.
Speaker 2: I was really privileged to be friends pretty much with everybody,
Speaker 2: So I was really lucky.
Speaker 1: I love that. That's actually very much how I feel
Speaker 1: about my friend groups. From the time I was very
Speaker 1: young in elementary school, junior high, and high school, there
Speaker 1: was no one. There was like no particular group of
Speaker 1: people where I didn't have at least one friend in
Speaker 1: that group, where there wasn't somebody I could say like, Hi,
Speaker 1: how are you and knew about them, And I really
Speaker 1: have pretty much always gotten along with just about everybody.
Speaker 1: I find everybody fascinating in some way. Even if I
Speaker 1: can't relate to someone in particular for whatever their interests are,
Speaker 1: I find their story fascinating. And I think that is
Speaker 1: always the good foundation for curiosity, is always a good
Speaker 1: foundation for friendship.
Speaker 2: I think that's a really great way to put it.
Speaker 2: And I think you kind of miss out if you're
Speaker 2: in this little clan and just keeping to these few people.
Speaker 2: You miss out on a lot of wonderful people. But
Speaker 2: you know, I can feel that from you being that
Speaker 2: inclusive and easy going, and I really respect that, and that's,
Speaker 2: you know, kind of what I want to emulate is
Speaker 2: being that kind of person where you know, you're approachable
Speaker 2: and easy to get along with. So whether people were
Speaker 2: having a great day and we're having fun, or someone
Speaker 2: was having some kind of problem and wanted to talk
Speaker 2: about it, it was really nice to be able to
Speaker 2: just really communicate with everybody, which was great.
Speaker 1: It sounds like you've had many jobs. You mentioned a
Speaker 1: lemonade stand, you picked beans, you worked for the family
Speaker 1: trucking company. Did you always know deep down that what
Speaker 1: you really wanted to do was work with animals? Did
Speaker 1: you have a plan? B?
Speaker 2: The wildlife work was kind of a thread through everything
Speaker 2: that I did, and the family business was something that
Speaker 2: I aspired to. And you know, a lot of kids
Speaker 2: will be like, I want to be like my parent.
Speaker 2: So my mom was a stay at home mom, but
Speaker 2: my dad had all these different jobs. So I was like,
Speaker 2: maybe I'll join the navy, maybe I'll be a cop.
Speaker 2: And he said to me, I really don't want you
Speaker 2: riding motorcycles on the road because it's just so dangerousous. Yeah,
Speaker 2: And that was ironic because driving pilot car is tremendously dangerous,
Speaker 2: but I respected, you know that he said that, and
Speaker 2: just really wanted to buckle down and work in the
Speaker 2: family business, but also had that passion with working with
Speaker 2: wildlife and that kind of connection. It made me feel
Speaker 2: more complete. I felt very empathetic towards these animals, and
Speaker 2: it made me more empathetic to people as well. And
Speaker 2: I know when I was fourteen, I volunteered at a
Speaker 2: rest home, working with older people. When rest homes were
Speaker 2: stereotypical rest homes, so they weren't terribly awesome places and
Speaker 2: kind of sad, and I found just that spirit of
Speaker 2: wanting to kind of lift people up. But I remember
Speaker 2: meeting this one man. I don't remember his name, I'm
Speaker 2: so sorry, but he had like thick white hair in
Speaker 2: a crew cut, and he was one hundred and three
Speaker 2: years old. And what took me aback by him were
Speaker 2: his eyes. So he had these piercing blue, beautiful eyes,
Speaker 2: and I was like, oh my god, there's like a
Speaker 2: twenty something year old man in there, like you could.
Speaker 1: See see the child in.
Speaker 2: Him in the old guy suit. You know, Yes, yes,
Speaker 2: was so entertaining and interesting and fun. But when I
Speaker 2: look back on it, I was fourteen and nineteen seventy eight,
Speaker 2: so he was one hundred and three, which would mean
Speaker 2: he was born in eighteen seventy five. Oh, that wild
Speaker 2: to think about.
Speaker 1: Gosh, so that's wild.
Speaker 2: That was the kind of respect and appreciation I had
Speaker 2: for these people because it was like meeting history. So yeah,
Speaker 2: that connection with people, I loved. The connection with wildlife
Speaker 2: kind of drew through to that, and then I loved work, love,
Speaker 2: love love.
Speaker 1: Oh man, you have been a workhorse your entire life.
Speaker 1: And it's funny you mentioned that your dad told you
Speaker 1: he didn't want you driving motorcycles or riding motorcycles on
Speaker 1: the road because it's dangerous, and then you said the
Speaker 1: pilot car thing being so dangerous. When you were talking
Speaker 1: about the pilot car and even being the lollipop girls
Speaker 1: on the road, yes, yes, seem like two of the
Speaker 1: most dangerous jobs one can have.
Speaker 2: I felt lucky, I know, when I turned eighteen, because
Speaker 2: then I could drive at work. And one of my
Speaker 2: first jobs was taking a truck from Eugene, Oregon to
Speaker 2: Los Angeles. And it's a sixteen hour drive, but it's
Speaker 2: longer than that with a truck, right, Yeah, of course
Speaker 2: his dad said, Okay, here's your deal. And I remember thinking,
Speaker 2: I don't know if I can do this because I've
Speaker 2: just turned eighteen. But my dad thinks I can do it,
Speaker 2: so I must be able to do it. So I
Speaker 2: always appreciated that he just believed I could do stuff.
Speaker 2: So I took off on that trip. And keep in mind,
Speaker 2: you know, no cell phones. If you wanted to call,
Speaker 2: it was a payphone. And it was a huge trip,
Speaker 2: and I was back in about five days I think
Speaker 2: it was. I was home and everything went great. But
Speaker 2: you're absolutely right. I mean, being on the road all
Speaker 2: the time is tricky and has its own risks. But
Speaker 2: I felt that really set me up for life to
Speaker 2: have someone saying I believe you can do this.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, so wonderful. So when do you create Cougar Country?
Speaker 2: Cougar Country? Yes, intriguing? How the old cougar has so
Speaker 2: many meanings?
Speaker 1: I know, Yes, why don't you tell us about Cougar Country?
Speaker 2: I thought that was important to do because when I
Speaker 2: turned when I turned eighteen, I had the opportunity to
Speaker 2: get I had enough money saved to get a sports
Speaker 2: car or put it down payment on a house, and
Speaker 2: so I in talking to my dad, I went ahead
Speaker 2: and put a down payment on a house. And back
Speaker 2: then when you went to get a house, it's probably
Speaker 2: still the same. I don't know, but you go to
Speaker 2: get a house and the bank says, all right, miss Terry,
Speaker 2: is your husband or dad with you?
Speaker 1: Right?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: So I needed my dad to help me because the
Speaker 2: bank was like, you're a young woman, and that's treaty.
Speaker 2: So he helped me by co signing on the bank
Speaker 2: loan and I put the money down and got the house.
Speaker 2: So now I have the house. And then I took
Speaker 2: over the family business when I was twenty, So now
Speaker 2: I have a career, right, got the house, got the career.
Speaker 2: Then when I was about I was about Robert's age,
Speaker 2: I was about twenty one twenty two. I was going
Speaker 2: through the paper because again that was scrolling.
Speaker 1: Yes, that's how we scrolled.
Speaker 2: And I was looking through the pets section and they
Speaker 2: had like exotic pets in the paper, and I saw
Speaker 2: that there was a cougar for sale, and I thought,
Speaker 2: how can you sell a cougar? This is really weird.
Speaker 2: So I went to investigate and it was up near Portland,
Speaker 2: so it was a couple hours drive, and this guy
Speaker 2: had kind of a farm and he had the wildest things,
Speaker 2: like he had capuchin monkeys and black bears and cougars
Speaker 2: and all the spars. Yeah, for sale. So I'm talking
Speaker 2: to him about it, and he said that he got
Speaker 2: cougar cubs from a movie that was called Benji the
Speaker 2: Hunted I believe is what it was called. And Benji's
Speaker 2: this little dog that goes on adventures, and there was
Speaker 2: a cougar with cubs, and I hope I'm remembering this correctly.
Speaker 2: Something happened, I think, to the mother and the cubs
Speaker 2: that they got separated. So Benji the dog was going
Speaker 2: to get the family back together.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: So as the movie filmed, the baby cougars got bigger,
Speaker 2: so they kept replacing them with.
Speaker 1: New baby things. Side right.
Speaker 2: So then after the movie was over, they have all
Speaker 2: these young cougars and they put them into the pet trade.
Speaker 2: So this guy buys them and then he was selling
Speaker 2: this cougar cub for thirteen hundred dollars. So I look
Speaker 2: at it and it's got it's in a little pen
Speaker 2: and the furs rubbed off its forehead, and it's got
Speaker 2: big joints like the beginnings of rickets, and it's not happy.
Speaker 2: So it was just sitting there quietly, and I thought,
Speaker 2: thirteen hundred dollars is about all the money I've got.
Speaker 2: So I called the United States Department of Agriculture and
Speaker 2: reported what was going on. And I remember I talked
Speaker 2: to doctor Overton, who said, to me, my jurisdiction is
Speaker 2: the ninety six thousand square miles of Ora plus northern California.
Speaker 2: So he said, the reality is by the time I
Speaker 2: check on this guy to see if he's doing the
Speaker 2: right thing, it'll probably be six months. And I said,
Speaker 2: in six months, this cougar's gonna be dead. Like no
Speaker 2: one takes it, It'll be dead. So I learned all
Speaker 2: about what I needed to do. I worked on my
Speaker 2: backyard to have everything to code to take on a cougar.
Speaker 2: I brought the cougar cub home. I paid for it,
Speaker 2: I got it home, and it's just the sweetest little
Speaker 2: thing you could possibly imagine, right, just lovey, snugly, yummy,
Speaker 2: sweet thing. Until it started feeling better. And then this
Speaker 2: little cougar cub named Molina tried really hard to learn
Speaker 2: hunting skills on me. So she would sneak up on
Speaker 2: me and pounce and all these hilarious things. So well,
Speaker 2: the great big area in my backyard became where she lived,
Speaker 2: and then i'd bring her into the house or go
Speaker 2: out with her, and in pretty short order, I was thinking,
Speaker 2: I have to justify having a cougar, because this is nuts.
Speaker 2: And so I worked with a woman who did educational
Speaker 2: work with cats, so she would go into schools and
Speaker 2: teach kids about cheetahs or serviles or all these different animals.
Speaker 2: And she taught me how to work with Molina so
Speaker 2: that I could take her into these environments safely and
Speaker 2: teach kids about wildlife. So then I began finding out
Speaker 2: wild animals were needing help, and that was a much
Speaker 2: better gig because I could take them in and let
Speaker 2: them go. So my special sauce seemed to be predatory mammals,
Speaker 2: so I started doing that rescue work, and I'd take
Speaker 2: in about three hundred animals a year. I had about
Speaker 2: one hundred volunteers who worked with me to help raise
Speaker 2: things and take care of things and work with me.
Speaker 2: And because again I had a career, I could afford it,
Speaker 2: so I was able to help people pay for the
Speaker 2: care of these animals and let them go. Again, so
Speaker 2: I have my cougar to teach people. I have this
Speaker 2: hobby of helping wildlife, and Cougar Country was born, so
Speaker 2: it was any of the animals in Cougar Country, but
Speaker 2: I primarily worked with predatory mammals, so that's Cougar's bears, bobcats, raccoons, foxes,
Speaker 2: those kind of animals.
Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, how big was your backyard?
Speaker 2: It was big. I had to have two car garage
Speaker 2: and I only had one car, so I decked out
Speaker 2: part of that for animals, like critical care, and then
Speaker 2: I had areas throughout my My yard was just like
Speaker 2: like doctor Doolittle's yard, you know. So I'd have areas
Speaker 2: for different animals, and as they got well, I'd let
Speaker 2: them go. And it was just such a passion for me.
Speaker 2: And I remember one day I got a knock on
Speaker 2: the door and it was Jehovah's Witness and they said
Speaker 2: to me, can we talk to you about Jehovah? And
Speaker 2: I was raised Christians, so I could verse to verse them.
Speaker 2: I was like, yes, I know the Bible back to front, baby,
Speaker 2: but you want to come here in, I'll get you
Speaker 2: a cup of tea and maybe you can help me
Speaker 2: clean out animal enclosures and feed baby animals, and they
Speaker 2: were like sure, so they would help me, and sometimes
Speaker 2: they'd come see me and it would be pouring rain,
Speaker 2: and pretty soon they stopped coming. So I thought, I'm
Speaker 2: the one that the Jehovah's witnesses eventually shut the door on,
Speaker 2: which I thought was pretty honey, Like, no, lady, you're
Speaker 2: too much.
Speaker 1: You know, we're we're good. We're not going back there.
Speaker 1: Thanks for having us. We're good. Wow, that's a great story.
Speaker 1: Thank you for sharing that with me.
Speaker 3: It was pretty funny.
Speaker 1: What did you do to relax? Did you ever relax?
Speaker 1: It seems to me like you're not much of the
Speaker 1: relaxing type. But most people who have a thriving career
Speaker 1: and many hobbies and stay as busy as you have
Speaker 1: your entire life, feel the need to blow off some steam,
Speaker 1: take a vacation. Where does Terry Irwin vacation? What do
Speaker 1: you do to relax?
Speaker 2: Well, what I used to love to do from the
Speaker 2: age of about nineteen is I was able to save
Speaker 2: enough money to be able to go to Florida a year.
Speaker 2: So in that construction related business, January is very slow.
Speaker 2: Not much road construction's going on all the trucking industry
Speaker 2: slows down and I could slip away for a week
Speaker 2: or so. So I would always go to Florida, and
Speaker 2: I loved the wildlife there, So you know, whether I
Speaker 2: was in Key West or the Tortugas, or you know,
Speaker 2: Miami or Silver Springs with the manatees, it was just
Speaker 2: a wonderland and so different than Oregon because it's always warm.
Speaker 2: It's just a different climate. So for me, it was
Speaker 2: so very special to be able to afford to do
Speaker 2: that every year, and I just enjoyed going. And then
Speaker 2: the irony as my life went forward was that my
Speaker 2: life would be so involved with wildlife and working seven
Speaker 2: days a week and my daughter marrying someone from Florida, Like,
Speaker 2: it's just so bizarre how it seemed like my whole
Speaker 2: young life was leading me towards what my whole life
Speaker 2: was gonna be yes, and it was allowing that to happen.
Speaker 1: Well, then this is a perfect segue into the most beautiful,
Speaker 1: fateful trip in nineteen ninety one when you go to
Speaker 1: Australia and you find yourself at Steve Irwin's Family Wildlife
Speaker 1: Park and you see him and his crocodile demonstration as
Speaker 1: a woman who has Cougar Country going on back home
Speaker 1: and doctor Doolittle's backyard. Is this like the minute you
Speaker 1: see him? Is this just like a dream come true?
Speaker 2: Well it almost wasn't, is what's amazing. Guy was over
Speaker 2: there with friends and we had gone to a barbecue
Speaker 2: near where Steve's Wildlife Park was, and we'd had a
Speaker 2: late night the night before, and I was really tired.
Speaker 2: So while we're driving back to Brisbane, I was kind
Speaker 2: of dozing in the back seat and the person driving
Speaker 2: the car said, there's like a little wildlife park here.
Speaker 2: Do you want to see it? And I go, you know,
Speaker 2: sometimes those little wildlife parks are just really depressing. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I want to see a bunch of
Speaker 2: sad snakes and jars and I don't know. And he's like, oh,
Speaker 2: that's cool. I just thought i'd check because I knew
Speaker 2: you liked wildlife. And then I go, you know, I'm
Speaker 2: never going to be here again, so I'll just duck
Speaker 2: in and have a look. So he pulls over abruptly
Speaker 2: because we were almost past it, and I paid my
Speaker 2: six dollars and went in and it was very small,
Speaker 2: like two acres, but very clean, and the kangaroos were
Speaker 2: just wandering around, which was pretty new to me because
Speaker 2: in America, any zoological facility, everything is enclosed, safely enclosed.
Speaker 2: And so there's kangaroos and there's beautiful birds, and the
Speaker 2: snakes all looked happy in nice areas. But it was
Speaker 2: pretty tiny. And there was a guy doing a demonstration
Speaker 2: with crocodile, so I went to watch and it was awesome,
Speaker 2: and he said, at twelve o'clock, I'm doing another demonstration
Speaker 2: in the environmental Park and it's another six dollars, but
Speaker 2: it's an hour long thing, and I thought, I'm a
Speaker 2: cashed up tourist, so I paid my extra six dollars
Speaker 2: and there were probably twelve of us who ended up
Speaker 2: going in to see this next demonstration. And the environmental
Speaker 2: park is all these different crocodiles, little ones, alligators, freshwater crocodiles,
Speaker 2: and the big salties and he's telling us about everything
Speaker 2: and how if a crocodile's in danger of being shot
Speaker 2: for coming close to people, he would go out and
Speaker 2: rescue them and move them to another river system or
Speaker 2: bring them back to his Queensland reptile and faun apart.
Speaker 2: And I was like Wow, that's really incredible. So he's
Speaker 2: explaining that with the smaller crocodiles, maybe seven foot or smaller,
Speaker 2: he would go out at night with his boat and
Speaker 2: he'd idle the boat in the dark, and he'd have
Speaker 2: a spotlight and then he'd pick up the red eyeshine
Speaker 2: of the crocodile. And as he idled in on it,
Speaker 2: then it was living near a boat ramp. He knew
Speaker 2: he had to move it, so he'd get close. He'd
Speaker 2: slow down the boat and start drifting, and then as
Speaker 2: he got close enough, he'd drop the spotlight and spear
Speaker 2: into the water, grab the croc around the base of
Speaker 2: the neck, go down to the bottom of the river,
Speaker 2: tuck its tail between his legs, shoot up from the bottom,
Speaker 2: flick into the boat, slip into the boat, and then
Speaker 2: he'd have the crocodile. And I was thinking, who on
Speaker 2: earth is this man? Exactly because he was telling the
Speaker 2: story the way I would tell. And then I was
Speaker 2: at the grocery store and I saw a sail on bread.
Speaker 2: You know, did you hear what you just said, sir?
Speaker 2: You know? And he was so passionate about wildlife. But
Speaker 2: the other thing that impressed me was that old saying
Speaker 2: where when you walk into the bar, you don't have
Speaker 2: to ask who the tiger keeper is. He's gonna tell you.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: He wasn't like that at all. It wasn't about him
Speaker 2: look how cool I am. It was about his deep
Speaker 2: love and respect for these animals. He said, they're beautiful mothers,
Speaker 2: They're affectionate to each other, They're just amazing. So I thought,
Speaker 2: I'm gonna say hi to this guy. And I think
Speaker 2: that's about all I said was high. And he said
Speaker 2: where are you from? And I go Oregon? And he
Speaker 2: said what's your favorite animal? And I said my favorite
Speaker 2: animal is a cougar? And he said why? And I
Speaker 2: thought no one ever asked me why. They just go, oh,
Speaker 2: a cougar, that's coolah, And I go, well, I think
Speaker 2: it's because a cougar can kill something bigger than themselves
Speaker 2: just with their mouth. And he looked at me all
Speaker 2: dreamy and he said.
Speaker 1: That's why I love crocodiles.
Speaker 2: It was so cute. What I was like, boom, look
Speaker 2: what we've got in common. Things that kill with their teeth.
Speaker 1: Wow, we both love predatory animals who can kill with
Speaker 1: their mouths. I do want you to know This story
Speaker 1: seems very much like you should write the script for
Speaker 1: a Hallmark movie. It has all the makings of a
Speaker 1: very cute meet cute with a little bit of, you know,
Speaker 1: a little bit of predatory animal behavior in there, which
Speaker 1: is just adorable. So what happens like you make this
Speaker 1: connection for both of you? He looked at you all dreamy.
Speaker 1: You're like, oh my gosh, we have so much in common.
Speaker 1: Do you just cancel your flight home? What do you
Speaker 1: do when you fall in love with a crocodile hunter abroad?
Speaker 2: Yeah? That was wild. We ended up talking all afternoons.
Speaker 2: So this this demonstration was over about one o'clock and
Speaker 2: the park closed at four. And at four o'clock I
Speaker 2: could hear my friends honking the hole.
Speaker 1: Get out of there.
Speaker 2: I know, but you know, sometimes when you meet someone
Speaker 2: in your kind of hubba hubba With Steve, I wanted
Speaker 2: to build a campfire and hear stories right Like. It
Speaker 2: wasn't like, WHOA, I love this incredibly sexy man. It
Speaker 2: was I really like this guy. I don't know if
Speaker 2: that makes sense.
Speaker 1: But I totally understand level yes.
Speaker 2: And I just want to talk to him forever. It
Speaker 2: was so amazing and so I he. We exchanged phone
Speaker 2: numbers and he goes, you know, if you're ever here again,
Speaker 2: let me know, and I thought, sure, next time i'm
Speaker 2: in Australia, I'll give you a call. So I left
Speaker 2: and then my friends were going scuba diving, and God
Speaker 2: gave me this gift of believing that people don't belong underwater.
Speaker 1: So I said, I'm out.
Speaker 2: I'm not going scuba diving. So then I had a
Speaker 2: weekend free. So I called Steve and I said, I
Speaker 2: have a weekend free, and he said, come back up
Speaker 2: to the zoo. Well I knew his parents lived in
Speaker 2: a house at the reptile Park, so I think he
Speaker 2: can't kill me, you know, because his parents are there.
Speaker 2: So I go back up and he very gentlemanly put
Speaker 2: me up at the hotel just down the road and
Speaker 2: then would come and pick me up in the morning
Speaker 2: and bring me down to the park. And I just
Speaker 2: worked for two days, just raking up kangaroo who prepping
Speaker 2: food for the animals. It was heaven. I had the
Speaker 2: best two days ever. And then he said, you know,
Speaker 2: this has been really great, and I said, I'm going home,
Speaker 2: but you know, maybe our paths will cross again. So
Speaker 2: I went home and I didn't hear anything, and a
Speaker 2: week passed. Then I didn't hear anything, and two weeks passed,
Speaker 2: and then I didn't hear anything. And by week three
Speaker 2: I thought, I'm guessing I miss an understood what this was.
Speaker 1: Yes, there must have been a misunderstanding.
Speaker 2: Yeah. So I was like, well, I really had a
Speaker 2: lot of fun and it was wonderful. But I don't
Speaker 2: know why I'm like this. But I was like, I'm
Speaker 2: not calling him right well, I want to talk to me,
Speaker 2: you have to call me. Four weeks pass and he
Speaker 2: calls and he said, I'm going to be there in
Speaker 2: ten days ooo. And I thought, that's very presumptuous. How
Speaker 2: do you know I haven't met someone else.
Speaker 1: Exactly, it's been four whole weeks.
Speaker 2: Four weeks, I mean this yummy snack exactly. I of
Speaker 2: course hadn't because I was pretty hung up on him.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're pretty much in love at this point.
Speaker 2: And then poor Steve, without knowing what he was doing,
Speaker 2: came to Oregon when it was Thanksgiving, so he got
Speaker 2: to meet the whole family.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, my gosh, what did your family think of
Speaker 1: Steve when they met him?
Speaker 2: They well, they were thought It was just amazing because
Speaker 2: I think this still happens in Thanksgiving, but it kind
Speaker 2: of is segregated. So, for example, a lot of times,
Speaker 2: most of the guys will go watch football and most
Speaker 2: of the women chat and do dishes or whatever in
Speaker 2: right kitchen. So Steve would go talk football with the
Speaker 2: guys and then clear the table and do dishes with
Speaker 2: all the women as comfortably. So he was perfect and
Speaker 2: everyone loved him. But my sister said later, she said
Speaker 2: she thought, darn it, because we're never going to see
Speaker 2: him again because he lives in Australia and I by
Speaker 2: this time, I've paid off my house, i have a
Speaker 2: successful company, i have a wildlife rehabilitation organization, and I'm
Speaker 2: working nights and weekends at an emergency veterinary hospital, so
Speaker 2: I've become a veterinary technician as well, and so my
Speaker 2: dance card's full.
Speaker 1: Exactly. You guys both have thriving, active lives on two
Speaker 1: different continents.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but that was kind of the family's reaction was
Speaker 2: we love him, but logistically, we don't know how this
Speaker 2: is gonna work, right, So it was great.
Speaker 1: Well, eight months later, you guys were married. So how
Speaker 1: does the proposal happen. What is the conversation between the
Speaker 1: two of you about how are we going to blend
Speaker 1: our lives?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Interesting. So this was end of November. So I
Speaker 2: went to see him again in January. I was like,
Speaker 2: forget Florida, so exactly over to Australia and had a
Speaker 2: wonderful time. So he took me out on rivers and
Speaker 2: showed me crocodile nests and showed me wildlife, and we
Speaker 2: went camping and he was a terrific cook and very chivalrous.
Speaker 2: Found a shallow area and we're just kind of like
Speaker 2: in shorts and a tank top, single kind of thing,
Speaker 2: and just kind of splashing off in the water, and
Speaker 2: he kept edging his way in front of me. I'd
Speaker 2: be like, I'm just trying to splash off here, and
Speaker 2: he kept edging his way in front of me, and
Speaker 2: I'm like, what's going on? And he said, I don't
Speaker 2: think there's any crocodiles nearby, but just in case, I
Speaker 2: want to be between you and the river. So I like,
Speaker 2: on one hand, that's very chivalrous, and on the other hand,
Speaker 2: what the heck do I do if a crocodile eats you?
Speaker 1: Right exactly?
Speaker 2: Then?
Speaker 1: What do I do?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't even know how we got here, but
Speaker 2: he was just delightful. So I'm about to go home.
Speaker 2: And we'd been doing some work that day because lightning
Speaker 2: hit a tree in the wildlife park and killed the tree,
Speaker 2: so we had to take it down before it Yeah,
Speaker 2: so we worked all day taking this tree down. And
Speaker 2: by the end of the day, I'm just sweaty, and
Speaker 2: I've got lee eaves in my hair and We're having
Speaker 2: a cool drink and we're sitting there and he says, so,
Speaker 2: what do you reckon? Do you want to get married?
Speaker 1: Oh?
Speaker 2: And I was like, maybe I misunderstood.
Speaker 1: So yet what did he just say get married?
Speaker 2: What? Because he's not on one knee, there's no ring, there's
Speaker 2: no rose petals, there's no candles lit, We're sweaty, I'm gross.
Speaker 2: What is happening? So I then think of all the
Speaker 2: reasons I can't move to Australia, and then I said, yes,
Speaker 2: so that happened, and he said, why don't you live
Speaker 2: here until you can kind of organize a wedding through
Speaker 2: your family and we'll go get married in Oregon. And
Speaker 2: I said, I won't live with you till we're married, right,
Speaker 2: and I got he said, how soon can you get
Speaker 2: a wedding together? So I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker 2: So he proposed in February and we were married in June,
Speaker 2: and that was really beautiful. My grandmother's church, it was
Speaker 2: really beautiful. Terrifying for him, but beautiful.
Speaker 1: Now what does his family think? Does his family come
Speaker 1: with you guys to Oregon for the wedding? What does
Speaker 1: his family think of this union and your connection?
Speaker 2: Well, I think to their credit, they were very accepting
Speaker 2: of me. But I think I was a lot, you know,
Speaker 2: like I'm I'm the person who has been coordinating things
Speaker 2: in my own life, right. You know, I've got one
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty five staff, I've got all these volunteers.
Speaker 2: I'm used to kind of being the coordinator. And I
Speaker 2: can remember my dad saying to me, when you get
Speaker 2: married and moved to Australia, remember two things. Everyone gets homesick,
Speaker 2: do not be ashamed. He said in World War Two
Speaker 2: when he was in the Navy on board the ship,
Speaker 2: he said, grown men are crying for their mothers because
Speaker 2: everyone gets homesick. And he said the other thing is
Speaker 2: remember your way is the different way. So when you
Speaker 2: get there, they will have a way they do things right.
Speaker 2: So he was very gentle with me. Yeah, don't just
Speaker 2: get there and completely coordinate everything differently right, which I love.
Speaker 1: I also can relate to that as a woman who
Speaker 1: has likes to be in control because I know what
Speaker 1: I'm doing. I'm self assured. I have many businesses, I
Speaker 1: run a household, I have children. You can be a
Speaker 1: lot for some people. Some people are not used to,
Speaker 1: you know, coming in and taking charge, and so I
Speaker 1: can I can understand that while they were very accepting
Speaker 1: and loving of you, you were also a lot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because you're a director in life and work and
Speaker 2: literally a film director, so so you get that. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So eleven of them came over to Australia, and Steve
Speaker 2: and I kind of put our funds together to fly
Speaker 2: them over and it was beautiful and really special. And
Speaker 2: when the services were over and we're going, you know,
Speaker 2: we're getting ready to show everybody Oregon and then go
Speaker 2: on our honeymoon, that's the time when we got the
Speaker 2: message from Australia that there was a crocodile someone was
Speaker 2: trying to shoot because it was near a boat ramp
Speaker 2: and they were afraid of it. So Steve had done
Speaker 2: a little bit of filming, like with ads. So there
Speaker 2: was like a four X beer ad and I'm not
Speaker 2: sponsoring or endorsing four X beer, but the beer was
Speaker 2: like being thrown from one friend to another and it
Speaker 2: goes over the water and the croc comes up and
Speaker 2: tries to grab the guy who's thrown the beer, and
Speaker 2: the guy catches the beer above the crocodile and is like, WHOA,
Speaker 2: the crocs are bad today or whatever. And that was
Speaker 2: Steve's hand, of course, and Steve's crocodile in the ad.
Speaker 2: So he had done some of that filming. So the
Speaker 2: guy he filmed ads with said do you want to
Speaker 2: film rescuing this crocodile instead of just rescuing it? So
Speaker 2: he said to me, do you want to do a
Speaker 2: planned honeymoon or go film this croc rescue? And I
Speaker 2: was like rescue, Oh my goshh So I spent my
Speaker 2: honeymoon with six men in a film crew and working
Speaker 2: on rescuing this crocodile. Which was before you.
Speaker 1: Said croc rescue. Where was the other place you guys
Speaker 1: might have gone on your honeymoon.
Speaker 2: We were looking at Indonesia, so we were talking about
Speaker 2: Indonesia because Steve was a surfer and surf there a lot,
Speaker 2: and back then, this would have been thirty three years ago.
Speaker 2: Back then it was still very remote and beautiful and
Speaker 2: isolated and quiet. Yeah, so now it's pretty touristy. Yeah,
Speaker 2: back it was very very special. So of course the
Speaker 2: honeymoon would have included surfing.
Speaker 1: And I don't surf, right, you're not going underwater. You're
Speaker 1: not going underwater that gift God gave you. You're not
Speaker 1: doing it.
Speaker 2: God said, you don't have gills.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I get it, I get it. I also want
Speaker 1: to talk to you about some others who experienced being
Speaker 1: a teenager in very close proximity to you, and that
Speaker 1: would be Bindi and Robert. I obviously got to know
Speaker 1: Robert a little bit this past couple of months through
Speaker 1: Dancing with the Stars, and my husband and I have said,
Speaker 1: and we've told it to both of you many times,
Speaker 1: if our sons turn out to be in a fraction
Speaker 1: of the man that Robert is, we will feel successful
Speaker 1: in our job as parents. So, now that I have
Speaker 1: said all that, I'd love to just hear a story
Speaker 1: about how one time even Robert was just a wild
Speaker 1: or awful teenager because he seems too good to be true.
Speaker 1: So was there ever a moment for either Bindy or
Speaker 1: Robert where you thought, well, this is just so out
Speaker 1: of your character, like a moment where you thought what
Speaker 1: are you doing? Or how they always been as perfect
Speaker 1: as they seem.
Speaker 2: It's so funny because I've been very blessed with kids
Speaker 2: who were way more fun than I was when I
Speaker 2: was a kid and cooler. I can remember in high school,
Speaker 2: I never got asked to the prom, but I went
Speaker 2: to the prom okay because I took tickets. So I
Speaker 2: was the girl who checked everyone's invite and see the
Speaker 2: door with their date. So, yeah, you want to talk
Speaker 2: being a high school kid, I never got asked to
Speaker 2: the prom. But my kids have been far more engaging
Speaker 2: and interesting and wonderful, and that's what you hope for,
Speaker 2: you know, these terrific kids. But my dynamic with my
Speaker 2: kids was so much different than most peoples. So Steve
Speaker 2: and I were married for six years before we had kids,
Speaker 2: and we were those funny people that said, when we
Speaker 2: have kids, our lives won't change.
Speaker 1: Right, We're gonna They're just gonna fit into our life.
Speaker 1: We're not changing anything, for them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so then we end up working with a film
Speaker 2: crew or who are totally cool if we bring the baby. Okay,
Speaker 2: So Bendy went on her Bendy was film being born
Speaker 2: and then she that was Steve just was shooting with
Speaker 2: a film crew and I called him and I said,
Speaker 2: I'm on the way to the hospital. So he just
Speaker 2: brought the film crew come with me. Yeah, right, like
Speaker 2: as you would right of course. So she was six
Speaker 2: days old when we were filming Sea Turtles at Fraser
Speaker 2: Island in Queensland, and so I just brought her along
Speaker 2: and the runner on the show was with her in
Speaker 2: the vehicle on the beach, and then when she needed
Speaker 2: to breastfeed, I would just step away and feed her
Speaker 2: and then come back and film again. And it worked
Speaker 2: and she loved it. And you know, when they're that little,
Speaker 2: they just kind of sleep and eat so pretty. But
Speaker 2: as time went on and we had Robert, we were
Speaker 2: still with the same crew and so we're still doing
Speaker 2: the same thing and they would travel with us. Bindy
Speaker 2: was three years old and my sister came with us
Speaker 2: when we launched our movie. We traveled for six weeks.
Speaker 2: We were in four countries and we did like twelve
Speaker 2: hundred interviews. I think the publicist said the only one
Speaker 2: who beats you was Tom Cruise. So I felt in
Speaker 2: good company. So we did so many interviews. And Bindy
Speaker 2: was a little trooper. I mean she had my sister
Speaker 2: and she just loved the next room, the next car,
Speaker 2: the next flight, and it was an adventure. Robert was
Speaker 2: the same. So they went with us everywhere, and I
Speaker 2: think that you get what you get. They were not
Speaker 2: good sleepers, but they were good travelers. They were very
Speaker 2: easy and compliant and fun and liked being with us.
Speaker 2: They never said when we are when are we going
Speaker 2: to go home? You know, they just loved it. So
Speaker 2: whether we were in a tent on the nullibor planes
Speaker 2: in South Australia, or we were in Clarence House in
Speaker 2: Ireland promoting a movie.
Speaker 1: They loved it right. They were happy to be there.
Speaker 2: Right. So the little ups and downs the most difficult
Speaker 2: Robert ever got. He was so cranky for two days,
Speaker 2: he was just impossible, Like the whole sum total of
Speaker 2: the Terrible twos hit him in two days. It was ridiculous.
Speaker 2: And then I was putting him to bed and I'm
Speaker 2: trying to soothe him to sleep, because neither kid was
Speaker 2: a sleeper. And as I'm stroking his hair, I discovered
Speaker 2: the biggest tick you've ever seen, like fully engorged paralysis
Speaker 2: tick on his head.
Speaker 1: Oh this.
Speaker 2: Isn't just pull the tick off and carry on. This
Speaker 2: is a doctor visit because paralysis ticks, well, they'll kill dogs.
Speaker 2: They're really bad for you. And I hadn't noticed it
Speaker 2: until it got big, but it completely changed his humor,
Speaker 2: his being a compliant little human.
Speaker 1: And I was like, what is going on? Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1: So then now you're like, okay, sorry, I've been trying
Speaker 1: to soothe you to sleep. Get up. We gotta go
Speaker 1: short with you.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you have to sit up and eat dinner. You know.
Speaker 2: I felt so bad, but he was fine, and I
Speaker 2: felt like a terrible parent, But I mean, how do
Speaker 2: you know the only thing that changed was his temperament.
Speaker 2: And to Robert's credit, he was That was the only
Speaker 2: time he was a real challenge, you know. Other than that,
Speaker 2: he was a really good kid. We were on a
Speaker 2: flight when he was teething. We're on a flight back
Speaker 2: from America, and so there's a lot of walking around
Speaker 2: because he's just not settling and I'd been sitting next
Speaker 2: to this lovely man having huge conversations, and then when
Speaker 2: everybody went to sleep, I kept walking Robert and he
Speaker 2: just wasn't settling. And I said to the man at
Speaker 2: the end of the flight, I'm so sorry if Robert
Speaker 2: disturbed you at all. I tried to keep him quiet
Speaker 2: and he said, no, no, he was fine. When you'd
Speaker 2: go Robert, it's okay. It would kind of startle me
Speaker 2: because my name's Robert, and I'm like, yep, yep, that's cool.
Speaker 2: Nice meeting you see it. A few days later, my
Speaker 2: pa said to me, I just wanted to let you
Speaker 2: know that Robert Downey Junior is coming to the Zoo
Speaker 2: because he spent time with you on a plane. And
Speaker 2: I go, I didn't spend time with Robert. Oh wait
Speaker 2: a minute. I flew for fourteen hours with Robert Downey
Speaker 2: Junior and was so tired. I didn't know who he
Speaker 2: was even after he said because my name, my name
Speaker 2: is Robert, and he was talking about the filming work
Speaker 2: he was doing, and I'm like, yeah, I do filming
Speaker 2: work too. With the babe.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, that's a hilarious. So then he comes
Speaker 1: to the zoo. Do you recognize him immediately? Like, oh, yeah,
Speaker 1: here who came in?
Speaker 2: And we caught up with him, and he and Steve
Speaker 2: hit it off, and we've not caught up often, but
Speaker 2: we've remained in touch over the years. But I thought
Speaker 2: that was such a funny story. So, yes, Robert wasn't
Speaker 2: being naughty, but it was often hard to get him settled.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, knowing how much energy Robert has, it seems
Speaker 1: like I don't you know, I'm not sure Robert has
Speaker 1: a settled When Dancing with the Stars ended and he
Speaker 1: was on the jet immediately to Good Morning America, and
Speaker 1: then from Good Morning America, you guys were back on
Speaker 1: a plane to go to South Africa, so trap through London.
Speaker 1: I just thought, wow, the energy you all have.
Speaker 2: Was he you know, credit to him, And it's nice
Speaker 2: because we both have our own gigs in South Africa.
Speaker 2: So while he's filming, I'm able to do. We've got
Speaker 2: a couple of conservation projects.
Speaker 1: Down here, so that's wonderful.
Speaker 2: But also a very long stint in South Africa, so
Speaker 2: it's really good.
Speaker 1: I bet you guys have been there now for quite
Speaker 1: a while. My last question for this episode, because I
Speaker 1: have one other little thing I want to do with you,
Speaker 1: involving hearing some other people's stories about what they were
Speaker 1: like as kids. I know it's been thrown around there,
Speaker 1: and Robert seems to be one of the culprits pushing it.
Speaker 1: Would you ever try and continue the Dancing with the
Speaker 1: Stars Irwin dynasty and jump onto that ballroom floor? Would
Speaker 1: that be something you would ever consider?
Speaker 2: Oh? Absolutely, I'm going to adopt another child and get
Speaker 2: them on the show. I think it should continue. So
Speaker 2: adoption is definitely in my future because I found what
Speaker 2: I'm good at. I am really good at being the
Speaker 2: sidekick coach for the dancing journey. So, you know, so
Speaker 2: proud of Bendy she was. But you know, interestingly, Bindy's
Speaker 2: journey and Robert's journey were so similar because Bindy would
Speaker 2: be invited to stuff and she'd say, I'm just here
Speaker 2: to dance. I'm not here to go to Disneyland or
Speaker 2: to do this thing. And Robert found that as well,
Speaker 2: that you really have to commit if you're and I'm
Speaker 2: sure you found that too. It was just all day,
Speaker 2: every day, seven days a week, Yes, and an epic
Speaker 2: dedication to the craft. So would I do it. I
Speaker 2: would never say never, but I would have to say
Speaker 2: I'm in the same boat that Bendy and Robert were,
Speaker 2: having no dance experience to the point where my parents
Speaker 2: were like, dancing is out when I was a teenager
Speaker 2: invited to dances. So I've literally ever danced either.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm telling you, I think you have just like
Speaker 1: Bindi and just like Robert, you have exactly what it
Speaker 1: takes to because you have. No one seems to be
Speaker 1: more dedicated than you, no one seems to be more
Speaker 1: hard working than you. You have a you have a
Speaker 1: shining personality. You've raised two champions who have already danced,
Speaker 1: So I just know if anyone could do it and
Speaker 1: do it well, it would be you. So I would
Speaker 1: love to see it. I love to hear never say never.
Speaker 1: I think that's very smart. And you know, Dancing with
Speaker 1: the Stars was such a life changing experience for me,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't just the dancing. Being able to be
Speaker 1: around Robert and the other cast and in turn, you
Speaker 1: and your family has become a true highlight of that
Speaker 1: journey for me, and I am in awe of what
Speaker 1: you have built and the grace in which you have
Speaker 1: done it. The legacy you are leaving for you, your family,
Speaker 1: you have cultivated all of that. So you are a
Speaker 1: hero to me. You are a hero to many people
Speaker 1: around the world. And I thank you so much for
Speaker 1: talking with me and letting me call you a friend.
Speaker 2: Thank you because I feel that way. I feel that
Speaker 2: when we all met you, we were all fans, and
Speaker 2: now we're all friends, which is really nice. So now
Speaker 2: what we have to do is this incredible podcast with
Speaker 2: another Irwin family member from Australia. So I want to
Speaker 2: see you at the Crocodile Hunter Lodge and Australia Zoo
Speaker 2: and as Disney says, be my guest.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh. Okay, I have to tell you though,
Speaker 1: I'm very afraid of spiders. Nothing in the world sounds
Speaker 1: more fun than going and visiting you guys and being
Speaker 1: your guest and doing the podcast from there. What am
Speaker 1: I going to do about the spiders? I hear there's
Speaker 1: like two thousand species of giants spiders in Australia. I'm
Speaker 1: very scared of them. Okay, that's what Robert said. Robert
Speaker 1: said the exact same thing. Your family's incredible, and I
Speaker 1: listen when Robert said it, I was like I believe you.
Speaker 2: You can. You can believe me because when Robert was
Speaker 2: a tiny little boy, he asked me to please always
Speaker 2: protect him from pirates, and a pirate has never gotten him.
Speaker 4: So I am telling you, no, spider, great you know
Speaker 4: what that if that, if that worked for you and
Speaker 4: pirates and Robert, of course it will work for me
Speaker 4: and the spiders.
Speaker 1: I very much appreciate it, and I'm going to take
Speaker 1: you up on it.
Speaker 2: I would love that because it's a sincere offer. Let
Speaker 2: me know when you're coming and we will have the
Speaker 2: most magical adventure I promise.
Speaker 1: Thank you so much. A joy to talk to you
Speaker 1: as always, and I look forward to the next time.
Speaker 2: Thank you. I really appreciate having.
Speaker 1: Me on of course. Teen Beat is an iHeart podcast
Speaker 1: was produced and hosted by Danielle Fischel, Executive producers Jensen
Speaker 1: Carp and Amy Sugarman, Executive in charge of production Danielle Romo,
Speaker 1: producer and editor Tara Subach. The theme song is by
Speaker 1: mar Coppus. Yes that Mark Coppus. Follow us on Instagram
Speaker 1: at Team beat pod.