Robert Irwin Reveals What Prince William Is Really Like | This Morning

Me That footage is just brings back so many members in the bowl cut that hair cut. Oh my god. Yeah Yeah, that was that was iconic. That was iconic. But thank you for that little trip down memory lane Isn't it? Isn't it gorgeous? It's a I mean, it's in your DNA. It is I grew up. I literally Lived growing up in Australia zoo and I still do my whole family live and work there We live and breathe not only this beautiful wildlife sanctuary, but also, you know our charity wildlife warriors, which is Worldwide animal conservation from the time I was, you know, as you saw knee-high to a grasshopper I've just had this passion to try and you know Do as much as I can to continue that that legacy of conservation and dad started that man your dad as well He was such an icon and it's so lovely meeting you and seeing so much of him in you. Thank you It's really really compelling. I was lucky enough to interview your dad Is that right? 2002 well GM TV. I wasn't born yet. You weren't no, I've got a little clip This is him talking about he had a very famous crocodile called agro. Wow So it's a bit of a rough-and-ready clip, but this is me chatting to your dad in 2002 24 years ago. I've not changed this is of course Steve Owen the crocodile hunter Steve It's a massive honor to have you in the studio. I'm a massive fan. I think you might That was a tight he's going That was that was agro the crocodile right? Yeah, mate. Yeah, that was agro He's about 15 feet and somewhere over 600 kilos and he means it to like he hates me I had to catch him out of the bush, you know, I rescued his life That is so cool. You know, what's crazy? We still have agro the crocodile He is at Australia Zoo. He's he's even bigger now and he's even crankier. He is Oh, yeah, so he had it out for my dad because dad as dad said, I mean he was gonna he was gonna be be killed it was really sad, so he actually went in saved him from the wild and Gave him this beautiful second chance at life and agro. No, thanks for him He just tried to kill him every day and now when I jump in he's like sweet more Irwin blood Let's go and he's just straight after me. So, you know, I'm keeping the keeping the tradition alive. I love it It's special But it must be so nice to have all these little pockets of memories because it has it's been two decades since you lost Your dad, but I saw an interview where you like, but I talk about him every day. Absolutely every single day You know he is still so much a part of everything I do and it's the honor of my lifetime to make sure that that spirit of Fun and passion and positivity and and of course wildlife conservation But but through the lens of kindness like he would always say at his core he would always tell my sister and I you got to treat every living being the way you would wish to be treated and That is just something I'll carry with me forever And the fact that I get a new story about him every day like seeing that footage. I'd never seen that I feel like I get a little piece of him back when I see something like that. So, thank you Well, Matt, he'd be so incredibly proud of what you're doing and how you're doing it. You're here for let me get this right London climate action week. That's true Talk to me a little bit about what it is that you're doing and also, you know How about you come best mates with our future King, but I know yeah Well, I mean he's Royal Highness Prince William as has become, you know Someone that I work with quite a lot through the Earthshot prize Which is of course his amazing global initiative to award, you know the biggest and brightest solutions in in environmental issues and and basically it's about kind of looking at conservation and all of these big challenges through the lens of Optimism urgent optimism like look at what is being done to make a difference So I'm here at London Climate Action Week to talk about the winds the amazing Earthshot prize finalists I mean some of them right here in London Nopla I mean, they're an incredible plastic alternative that's getting rid of those single-use plastics making sure we live more sustainably You know, I just rode the 3,000 electric bus with his Royal Highness yesterday. He spent the day talking about climate change and all sorts there You know He is a passionate individual when I am around other people who share that passion for conservation It gets me so excited and he truly is I think one of the greatest environmentalists that we have on the planet He's amazing. Yeah, and also now this personal friendship has developed between you as well Which doesn't so doesn't strike me as artists at all Cuz when you feel that passionate about something and you've got something like that in common This is a perfect example of what he's like, right? I was doing Dancing with the Stars in America, you know bringing the conservation mission to a very different or yeah, which is great He facetimed me in rehearsals with my dance partner just to wish me well on all the dancing Like he is just I had no idea it was happening They sit me down and they go apparently there's a really important call coming through and there he is on the laptop There's Prince William. I'm just like, oh, hey mate. Thank you so much. This is awesome So he is just a down-to-earth human being and someone who who knows the importance of conservation Reaching different audiences. I mean you've got his number in your phone Would you save it But you're absolutely right and actually Talk at him talking about it him making it very accessible. He's passionate and also looking at it in terms of sort of the scientific creation and Genius ingenuity exactly solve these problems as well. It makes it approachable I think if we are gonna unite against the big issues that face our planet We have to feel like there is a goal that we can work towards. Yeah conservation I mean, I I talk about this with young people all the time They come up to me and say I want to do something but it feels like this giant mountain to climb How do I approach it? But the Earthshot Prize what we do in Australia at Australia Zoo It's all about creating this worldwide community so that people feel like they have a community They have a group young people feel like they're not alone and it makes it approachable when you're seeing the solutions You're seeing people being rewarded and seeing these ingenious solutions at the Earthshot Prize Award being Scaled up globally. It makes us feel like okay, there's hope we got it It's also about celebrating those little wins So the enormity of the problem doesn't kind of create an inertia and nobody does anything Oh, yeah. I mean I look at there's a finalist called Alton dala They brought back the Saiga antelope from 20,000 almost extinct to now in the millions No, you know you look at things like that in Australia through what we do We've conserved almost half a million acres of protected land through the Earthshot Prize 58 million hectares of land and oceans protected you look at these facts and figures and you go All right, it's do the work is happening. We got I think you said this this week. There's reason to be optimistic Despite the fact we're sitting here and we're about to hit record temperatures. I mean crazy those you can't argue against what we are all experiencing Yeah, we're feeling it reason to be optimistic there is and and there always is and I think if we get into this Mindset where we just look at all of the doom and gloom and we get caught up in this It's all too big. That's a dangerous mindset to get into We really have to make sure we remember if we unify if we can agree to come together Toward this common goal. We can absolutely make that change I feel like my job is to do that through through passion and fun Just like my dad did and joining forces with Prince William with the Earthshot Prize. I was not on my bingo card, but honestly, it is such a privilege and I love it Here. I love the UK. I love London. I The wildlife is very different here, right? No crocodiles. No venomous snakes, but you've got squirrels. I don't have squirrels in Australia So I'm like, this is awesome. They're like mission impossible squirrels And then there's a whole lot oh my gosh, I love it here it's awesome We have less things that can kill you. Yes I think I mean take when I go to Australia you have to be careful because the insects Everything's either venomous or has a pouch. It's very it's very it's very strange, but I love our Aussie wildlife. They're great So nice to see you. Thank you for coming on. Absolutely. It's been a real treat. Thank you guys You are and as I say you I can see you dad in you Thank you