American-Australian conservationist Terri Irwin, widow of “Crocodile Hunter” Steve Irwin, has stated she will not seek love again following her husband’s untimely passing in 2006. Speaking to Us Weekly in anticipation of the annual Steve Irwin Gala early last month, the 59-year-old stated, “I totally got my happily ever after.”
When Terri contemplated dating, her loyalty to her late husband was clear. “And while there are a lot of wonderful men in the world, can you see another Steve Irwin? I just can’t. I’d be like, ‘I love that you’re a librarian, and the Dewey Decimal System is cool, but I got to go jump a crocodile and do that.’ Forget that,” she said.
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Known affectionately as “The Crocodile Hunter” after his and Terri’s 1990s educational television series, Steve died in September 2006 when, at the age of 44, he was fatally pierced in the chest by a short-tail stingray barb while filming in the Great Barrier Reef. Steve and Terri shared two children: daughter Bindi Irwin, 25, and son Robert Irwin, 20.
Even though Terri stated that she wished to remain single, she expressed her willingness to assist others in the search for love. When asked about the show The Golden Bachelor, she replied, “I do like the show.” However, she clarified that her interest lay in joining as a producer rather than a contestant.
As she reflected on her 14-year marriage to Steve, Terri remained committed to believing their bond was unrivaled. “I had the best marriage in the whole world for 14 years, and I’m very comfortable with the person I see in the mirror,” she affirmed. “So I’m okay to be on my own now. And I’m lonely for Steve, but I’m not a lonely person, so I’m very lucky.”
Terri emphasized that if Steve were alive today, he would be immensely proud of her and their children’s efforts to honor his memory and further his conservation goals. She recounted a moment when Steve “would actually go [and] stare [into the fire],” she said. “And [one day] he came in and he goes, ‘We have to have children. Who are we going to leave this all to? We have to have children.’ And I go, ‘Just because you have kids, doesn’t mean they’re going to be interested in what you’re doing.’ And he goes, ‘No, we’re having children and they’re going to love wildlife and conservation.’”
In November, the Irwin family paid touching tributes to Steve on Instagram for Steve Irwin Day. Bindi summed up her father’s legacy, writing, “To the world, he will be remembered as the greatest Wildlife Warrior. To our family, he will be remembered as our world.” Robert, in turn, spoke of his father’s enduring “passion and enthusiasm.”
