Irwin took EW inside the demands of becoming the “DWTS”-verse’s newest main character, while maintaining his duties as the keeper of the Australia Zoo.

Robert Irwin reveals ‘toughest part of my life’ after stepping up to host DWTS: The Next Pro

Irwin took EW inside the demands of becoming the “DWTS”-verse’s newest main character, while maintaining his duties as the keeper of the Australia Zoo.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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July 18, 2026 10:00 a.m. ET

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Robert Irwin and the cast of ‘Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro’. Credit:

Disney/Vince Valitutti

- Robert Irwin tells EW that cutting his time as keeper of the Australia Zoo was “the toughest part” of becoming the host of *Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro*.

- Irwin is “honored” to “have a lot of different opportunities after winning *DWTS *season 34. But that makes it hard maintaining “my day job, which is animal conservationist and zookeeper.”

- *The Next Pro *premiered on July 13, with new episodes to follow every Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC and streaming the next day on Hulu.

Robert Irwin has a problem: he’s too good at too many things.

The son of famed conservationist and TV personality Steve Irwin, Robert grew up in front of the camera. He appeared on his sister Bindi Irwin’s series *Bindi the Jungle Girl *at only 4 years old, and after her victory on season 21 of *Dancing With the Stars*, Robert samba’d and tangoed his way to the top of the most recent season of the reality competition series.

Just a smattering of months later, he’s returned to the *DWTS *fold as the host of the new spinoff series, *The Next Pro*. Alongside judges Mark Ballas (a longtime *DWTS *pro partner) and Shirley Ballas (a famed ballroom dancer, *Strictly Come Dancing *judge, and Mark’s mom), Irwin brings his signature energy and enthusiasm to help guide 12 rising pros over a series of hurdles to determine who will be drafted onto the anchor series’ pro league.

* *caught up with Irwin in the run-up to Monday’s *The Next Pro *premiere. While he expressed gratitude and excitement for the opportunities the big *DWTS *win piled in his lap, he was candid about the sacrifices all that good fortune has cornered him into making.

Robert Irwin on ‘Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro’.

Disney/Vince Valitutti

“The greatest part is the fact that, you know, I’m very, very honored that I have a lot of different opportunities and different avenues to spread my message,” Irwin says. “I’ve come to realize that what’s most important for me is that I am pushing my message of positivity and animal conservation. All of that — not only to an audience that is interested in animals, but also to an audience that might not be, being in rooms like *Dancing With the Stars*.”

Irwin’s new packed schedule has redoubled his faith in the conservationist mission of his work as the keeper of the Australia Zoo. *The Next Pro *even* *opted to shoot down under, rather than in the anchor series’ traditional hub in the heart of Los Angeles. But there are still only 24 hours in a day, and the demands made on TV hosts are not light.

Robert Irwin handling a crocodile in 2021.

Robert Irwin/Instagram

“That’s the toughest part of my life at the moment,” Irwin says. “It becomes very challenging, trying to measure and balance the time between actually being at the Zoo, doing what I would consider my day job, which is animal conservationist and zookeeper. So balancing that with hosting and filming and this *Dancing With the Stars* world” has become a job unto itself.

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Contestant falls during ‘DWTS: The Next Pro’ premiere performance before double elimination

Robert Irwin and Mark Ballas take us down under for Australia-set 'Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro' (exclusive)

*Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro *was announced in February, and Irwin was tapped as its host in April.

In May, Irwin looked back on the whirlwind of being approached to host the spinoff “while I was still in dance mode. I mean, I was fully immersed in that *Dancing With the Stars* world when these conversations first started happening,” he told EW. “I never expected it to be such an intrinsic part of my family, and the Irwin family story... I mean, we’re wildlife conservationists!”

Robert Irwin and his father, Steve Irwin, in 2005.

The series’ first season got off to a thrilling start on Monday, with an action-packed episode that saw an early frontrunner fall during her first performance, and then get sent packing during a shocking double elimination.

Though *The Next Pro *hasn’t yet taken viewers out into the open wilds of Australia, Irwin doesn’t see his duties at *DWTS *and the Australia Zoo as mutually exclusive.

“I’m talking to people where the environment might not be forefront in their minds. But I’m kind of helping them accidentally learn something along the way. That’s very important to me,” he says. “We need people that are pushing that message and pushing the boundaries and reaching new audiences, so it’s very important to me. But I’ll tell you what, I’m at this point in my life where it’s just a myriad of sidequests, honestly. I’m sidequesting hard right now. Sidequested so hard that I’m hosting a *Dancing With the Stars* spinoff show.”

*Dancing With the Stars: The Next Pro* airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC, with episodes available the following day on Hulu.

- Dancing with the Stars Fandom

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Source: “EW Dancing”