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How Robert Irwin is redefining Australian masculinity · The Front

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  Speaker 1: From The Australian. Here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
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  Speaker 1: It's Wednesday, December thirty one, twenty twenty five. We first
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  Speaker 1: met Robert Irwin when he was an adorable toddler. Now
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  Speaker 1: he's sending women wild for very different reasons, because the
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  Speaker 1: twenty two year old wildlife activist also happens to be charming, sensitive,
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  Speaker 1: talented and a very smooth dancer. Today, Bianca far Marcus
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  Speaker 1: joins us to discuss, with only a few blushes, this
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  Speaker 1: remarkable young man's global success.
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  Speaker 2: The winners and new champions of Dancing with the Stars
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  Speaker 2: are Robert.
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  Speaker 3: And wel.
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  Speaker 1: Bianka far Marcus is The Australian's Content director of Culture
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  Speaker 1: and Bianca I'm used to you writing about very highbrow
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  Speaker 1: art forms, the ballet, the opera, but become the Robert
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  Speaker 1: Erwin correspondent at the paper.
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  Speaker 3: How did that happen?
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  Speaker 2: Well, aside from the fact that it's one of the
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  Speaker 2: most coveted positions, it really was down to a matter
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  Speaker 2: of who actually knows anything about dance In the office
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  Speaker 2: and at the time, between walking at the photos that
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  Speaker 2: came out of the finale for Dancing with the Stars,
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  Speaker 2: I was selected to do the honor.
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  Speaker 1: Robert Irwin, the son of Stephen Terry Erwin, who's become
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  Speaker 1: famous to a new generation in Australia, probably through a
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  Speaker 1: Bond's ad campaign and I'm a celebrity, Get me out
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  Speaker 1: of here. Yes, has just one Dancing with the Stars US. Now,
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  Speaker 1: it's probably hard for us here in Australia to grasp
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  Speaker 1: how big a deal this.
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  Speaker 3: He is right, No, it is definitely.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, I think we had a Dancing with the
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  Speaker 2: Stars of our own. It was liked enough, but not
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  Speaker 2: enough to last the test of times. You know, similar
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  Speaker 2: to shows like Maths that we know will possibly never
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  Speaker 2: die off from the airwaves. But in the US it
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  Speaker 2: attracts massive audiences and it still has this kind of
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  Speaker 2: old school sort of appeal, whereas in the days of
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  Speaker 2: you know, your American and your Australian Idols, people would
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  Speaker 2: vote in and pick their favorites and that would have
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  Speaker 2: such a determining factor, and Dancing with the Stars leverages
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  Speaker 2: that in the sense that judges will give their scores
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  Speaker 2: usually out of thirty. In the case of the finale
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  Speaker 2: it was out of ninety. And then we saw, particularly
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  Speaker 2: with Robert Irwin, he was slated to come second, but
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  Speaker 2: the second the audience votes were brought in, it actually
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  Speaker 2: swayed the decision, and he, you know, took the crown
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  Speaker 2: and the beloved and very iconic.
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  Speaker 3: Trophy of the Disco Ball.
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  Speaker 1: What did you think of his dancing?
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  Speaker 2: I actually think it was superb in terms of technique
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  Speaker 2: and in terms of showmanship. For someone who genuinely went
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  Speaker 2: in with no sort of prior training or anything, he
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  Speaker 2: was incredible. Some of the dancers, salsers, rumbas, tangos, they're
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  Speaker 2: not easy art forms first and foremost, it's very difficult
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  Speaker 2: to dance on your own. It's harder to dance with
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  Speaker 2: a partner. And he brought such a charisma, such a showmanship,
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  Speaker 2: as we saw with the infamous are You going to
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  Speaker 2: Be My Girl? Dance routine to the Jet song, which
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  Speaker 2: was just explosive. Someone take my hand and carn with
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  Speaker 2: me because it looks so fun.
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  Speaker 3: I don't really want.
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  Speaker 2: To make it that he has this steely gaze that
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  Speaker 2: even some of the best dances of our generation of
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  Speaker 2: the world cannot necessarily just switch on like. It's an
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  Speaker 2: amazing bold in the beautiful type seductive appeal, and it
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  Speaker 2: does make the difference between what is someone who's a
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  Speaker 2: technically good dancer and someone who is just a star.
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  Speaker 3: And he was.
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  Speaker 2: I mean he leapt from the judge's table with a
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  Speaker 2: broken rib and managed to pull off a whole ninety
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  Speaker 2: second dance routine.
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  Speaker 1: Did you get that sense with Robert Irwin that his partner,
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  Speaker 1: Whitney Carlson was having to drag him around the floor.
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  Speaker 3: Probably at the start, definitely.
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  Speaker 2: I mean there's the balance between being extremely nervous and
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  Speaker 2: extremely amateur at something.
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  Speaker 3: But she actually to bring out quite a unique.
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  Speaker 2: Range in him, and I think she sort of forced
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  Speaker 2: his limits in terms of knowledge and understanding of the craft,
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  Speaker 2: but also leveraged his physicality. I will probably mention this
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  Speaker 2: several times throughout this conversation, but he is uniquely buff
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  Speaker 2: and there is an inherent athleticism to him that she
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  Speaker 2: managed to choreograph around quite well. So there was a
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  Speaker 2: specific number where they did a more contemporary partner routine,
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  Speaker 2: so not your traditional ballroom. It was for the dedication round,
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  Speaker 2: so we obviously dedicated the dance to his mum, Terry,
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  Speaker 2: and it was just this beautiful tableau of very slow
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  Speaker 2: and soft, supple movements, but all of which revolved around
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  Speaker 2: his upper body strength, blushing.
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  Speaker 3: I am blushing, and he's too young even for me.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, this is what I'm enjoying about it,
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  Speaker 1: actually because the older women I used to feeling a
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  Speaker 1: bit weird about finding twenty one year olds attractive. But
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  Speaker 1: how old are you?
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  Speaker 3: I'm twenty eight.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, so I'm thoroughly enjoying the faith that you are
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  Speaker 1: now also a creepy old lady.
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  Speaker 2: I know.
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  Speaker 3: Well, this is the thing I feel like.
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  Speaker 2: Also, this was part of the reason I was allowed
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  Speaker 2: to write about it. But still even then, there's a
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  Speaker 2: bit of a line that I feel like I'm crossing regardless.
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  Speaker 2: Back to the dancing, just these beautiful moments within that
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  Speaker 2: contemporary dance where he was hoisting her above his head
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  Speaker 2: and just obviously she's doing the majority of the work right,
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  Speaker 2: like she's the one holding the leg up, performing the
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  Speaker 2: arabesques and making this what is an already exceptional image,
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  Speaker 2: just this photographic moment, and there were so many that
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  Speaker 2: came out of what he did, but it also just
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  Speaker 2: brought this beautiful range to him, and I think that's
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  Speaker 2: what's appealed to audiences With Robert Off the stage, he
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  Speaker 2: has this emotional depth that I think has not ever
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  Speaker 2: been found disingenuous. I think he's quite I mean The
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  Speaker 2: New York Times wrote an article this week saying he
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  Speaker 2: actually is that nice. And you've never heard a bad
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  Speaker 2: word about Robert Irwin, which clearly resonated on stage.
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  Speaker 1: His social media is full of him pulling over his
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  Speaker 1: car in the African jungle to rescue with endangered something
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  Speaker 1: or other that's trying to crawl across the road. This
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  Speaker 1: is while he was on set for I'm a Celebrity,
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  Speaker 1: Get me out of here.
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  Speaker 3: It's a chameleon. Look at him. This is my favorite
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  Speaker 3: animal in Africa.
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  Speaker 1: Look at that beautiful prehensile tail. He does seem to
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  Speaker 1: be a genuinely good and nice person, highly intelligent, very
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  Speaker 1: thoughtful person. But he's also making conservation hot and we
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  Speaker 1: got him off the road just in time.
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  Speaker 3: You nearly got run over there, buddy. Look at that.
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  Speaker 4: This has made my whole day.
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  Speaker 1: This is the serious part of what Robert Irwin does,
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  Speaker 1: isn't it. He is obviously enjoying the fact that everybody
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  Speaker 1: else is enjoying him as a public figure, but he
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  Speaker 1: always brings it back to conservation.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, and you know what I think.
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  Speaker 2: It makes him a very, very extremely rare breed of celebrity.
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  Speaker 2: So in terms of your contemporary celebrity appeal, there's the
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  Speaker 2: trashy influenza, or there's the very secretive a lister that
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  Speaker 2: has a world of mystique around them. There's really no
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  Speaker 2: one in between. And when you look at the cross
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  Speaker 2: section that is Robert Irwin's public profile, he is a
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  Speaker 2: man who loves animals, a man who wears cuban heels
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  Speaker 2: on stage and performs in a shimmering vest, and a
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  Speaker 2: man who will talk excessively about photography.
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  Speaker 3: All of these things are not cool.
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  Speaker 2: All of these things are very sort of earnest and embarrassing,
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  Speaker 2: and yet he manages to distill them into something so
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  Speaker 2: alluring because he does have an exceptional level of knowledge
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  Speaker 2: in his field, and it shows, I mean, the family
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  Speaker 2: overall and their impacting conservation has been unparalleled in this country,
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  Speaker 2: which we know it's also a bit of an uphill battle,
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  Speaker 2: but well that's for another episode.
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  Speaker 3: And I think something.
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  Speaker 2: Australians don't know is that he was already very famous
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  Speaker 2: in America. So I grew up in the States and
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  Speaker 2: within the US we had a plethora of channels that
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  Speaker 2: Australia hadn't really had access to because they were kind
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  Speaker 2: of still on the standard cycle of you know, your
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  Speaker 2: four or five.
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  Speaker 3: Main things to watch.
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  Speaker 2: So we got drip fed Steve Irwin and the Irwin
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  Speaker 2: family in the early two thousands, whereas in the US
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  Speaker 2: they already had deals with Animal Planet, they were already
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  Speaker 2: massive celebrities over there. And I think we also take
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  Speaker 2: for granted in this country that our greatest cultural export
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  Speaker 2: is animals at the end of the day, like it
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  Speaker 2: is such a weird fascination snakes, you know, all the marsupials, wildlife.
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  Speaker 2: There are things that the wider world finds absolutely enthralling,
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  Speaker 2: so you take it in that context.
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  Speaker 3: He was born.
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  Speaker 2: There was even a film special of his birth at
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  Speaker 2: Australia Zoo that was broadcast in the States that wasn't
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  Speaker 2: necessarily as big as it was here.
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  Speaker 3: I remember seeing that as a kid.
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  Speaker 1: This is making it even more creepy than you find
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  Speaker 1: them attractive.
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  Speaker 2: Now, growing up, growing up with Robert Irwin, I was
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  Speaker 2: actually saying, the last time I saw photos of him
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  Speaker 2: was when he had that bleach blonde bowl cut.
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  Speaker 4: Kid.
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  Speaker 1: I think their mom might have been cutting their hair
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  Speaker 1: at some point.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's not a good look. Look the co key
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  Speaker 2: to glittering suit pipeline was fantastic, But they also watched
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  Speaker 2: him in one of the most horrendous moments and the
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  Speaker 2: most tragic moments of the family's life, which is when
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  Speaker 2: Steve Irwin passed.
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  Speaker 3: He was two years old in that moment, and.
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  Speaker 2: The picture of that family and the tableau of Terry
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  Speaker 2: now assuming this single motherhood role, but also assuming this
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  Speaker 2: massive empire of what is a very ethical and very
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  Speaker 2: virtuous sort of craft of conserving the planet and educating
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  Speaker 2: people about it, and then juggling two very young children,
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  Speaker 2: and this reputation of Steve Irwin who managed to engage
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  Speaker 2: a global audience in what was otherwise something that people
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  Speaker 2: didn't necessary really care about, or only ever cared about
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  Speaker 2: when they were at a zoo for an hour or so.
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  Speaker 2: I think that trajectory and having that kind of consciousness
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  Speaker 2: on a global stage so young, and then never having
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  Speaker 2: a scand or never having any sort of stray away
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  Speaker 2: from that, built such an incredible atmosphere and an aura
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  Speaker 2: around him that made him so appealing.
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  Speaker 3: And what's funny now.
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  Speaker 2: Is the dancing with the star segue really was one
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  Speaker 2: of the most incredible I think commercial opportunities on behalf
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  Speaker 2: of the show, because obviously they saw that ten years prior,
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  Speaker 2: his sister Bindi had entered and won, and they managed
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  Speaker 2: to convince him to come on. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that's the thing about these big reality shows, isn't
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  Speaker 1: that they're sometimes seen as a springboard for greater fame,
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  Speaker 1: greater celebrity. Bindi used her win quite strategically to bring
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  Speaker 1: attention back to the tourist operation in Australia and the
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  Speaker 1: conservation work. That's an opportunity potentially for Robert Irla. But
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  Speaker 1: the other path for him is massive Hollywood stardom.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, do you see him going there?
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  Speaker 2: I wonder if he would do that, because he does
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  Speaker 2: seem quite fixated and aware of the impact he wants
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  Speaker 2: to make on the world. I think that's always been
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  Speaker 2: very consistent, and it's very uniquely consistent someone who started
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  Speaker 2: so young and has been in the public eye literally
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  Speaker 2: since birth. I think it could follow the route of
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  Speaker 2: David Attenborough, go on that whole sort of in depth
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  Speaker 2: look at the planet around us and really build an
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  Speaker 2: environment around that. I do think though, that it will
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  Speaker 2: be a massive possibility for him because at the end
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  Speaker 2: of the day, he looks like a ken dole, he
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  Speaker 2: has a brain, and he has such a gorgeous modern
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  Speaker 2: masculinity that I think a lot of people don't necessarily find.
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  Speaker 3: In many celebrities overall.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, this kind of way that we
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  Speaker 2: want that super hot I bring it back to super
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  Speaker 2: hot again, but super hot man who is also smart
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  Speaker 2: and sensitive and aware of the world. But the fact
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  Speaker 2: that you know, one of his major campaigns has been
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  Speaker 2: promoting endometriosis awareness purely because of his sister. He has
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  Speaker 2: such a unique familial love and that's something that really
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  Speaker 2: came out throughout the show as well, and I think
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  Speaker 2: a lot of people forgot about it. I mean, the
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  Speaker 2: last time we heard of Robert Irwin was I'm a celebrity,
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  Speaker 2: Get me out of here. Don't know if that really
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  Speaker 2: made as much of a splash, but before that, it
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  Speaker 2: was the Bonds ad And to see a twenty year
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  Speaker 2: old Robert Erwin, who we all knew was that little
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  Speaker 2: boy in khakis and napis with a large snake draped
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  Speaker 2: around his shoulders really.
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  Speaker 3: Just changed the image of him to the public. But
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  Speaker 3: it just wasn't it. I don't know, it wasn't sallacious.
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  Speaker 2: There was something about him that made it so fine
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  Speaker 2: for both myself and women upwards of thirty years older
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  Speaker 2: than me stare in the office and think it's okay
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  Speaker 2: to put this on the front page.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, it doesn't feel like he's being exploited for his look.
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  Speaker 1: He feels very much in control of it. And one
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  Speaker 1: of the funny things I thought about that Bonds campaign
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  Speaker 1: is that the reason everyone went, oh, wow, he's really
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  Speaker 1: handsome was that he wasn't smiling. He has a very natural, huge,
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  Speaker 1: very goofy smile. When he's not smiling, he is he's moldering. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: he smolders. He's stunningly good looking. It's very rare to
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  Speaker 1: see him not smiling. And that's what you say about
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  Speaker 1: his face while he's dancing. He's often not smiling but
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  Speaker 1: very composed. Yeah, we just need him to maybe smile less.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, I know. I mean there is that.
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  Speaker 2: There was that study a while ago that women are
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  Speaker 2: beautiful when they smile and men aren't, and I firmly
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  Speaker 2: believe that that might be the case to this day.
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  Speaker 3: Bianka far Marcus, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 4: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: You can read and watch all Bianchor's journalism right now
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  Speaker 1: at the Australian dot com dot au slash culture. It's
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  Speaker 1: been a big and thanks for sharing it with us
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  Speaker 1: here at the front. We look forward to bringing you
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  Speaker 1: more of our journalism in twenty twenty six.
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  Speaker 3: See you then,