Robert Irwin Reveals How He Warned His Family About His ‘Spicy’ Shirtless ‘DWTS’ Dance

Robert Irwin made sure to warn his family before stripping down for his “spicy” shirtless performance on Dancing With the Stars.

The Dancing With the Stars Season 34 winner, 22, revealed on Thursday’s episode of Kylie Kelce’s Not Gonna Lie podcast that his family wasn’t told he’d be shirtless on TV while dancing the salsa with pro partner Witney Carson to “Million Dollar Baby” by Tommy Richman on TikTok Night.

“There was a good reason for that because, every dance that I had done, I would give my family a little preview,” he said. “They would come to a rehearsal, or I’d show them a video. But then this one, there’s a point in the dance where I remove my shirt, and there’s a lot of… It’s salsa, so it’s, you know, it’s a little bit spicy….”

“I was like, I can’t show my fam, I don’t know,” Irwin admitted. “So I just went, you know what? I’m just gonna go for it. And I said to them, ‘So this one’s a little bit edgy.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s great. Go for it.’ But then afterwards, they were like, ‘Whoa.’”

Irwin’s risk paid off, as the dance earned him a 22/30 and propelled him forward in the season, which he and Carson would eventually win. “You know what? Life is short. You gotta just embrace it,” the wildlife conservationist shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with that. It was fun.”

Irwin also opened up about the valuable advice he received early on from older sister Bindi Irwin, who won Season 21 of Dancing With the Stars alongside Derek Hough — to “let go and lean in.”

“She said, ‘This experience will change your life,’” he recalled. “‘Remember why you’re here. Remember what you represent. Remember that passion you have. Remember everything that you’re about. And remember that this experience is supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to be a challenge. …And I just went, alright. I just gotta let go and lean into this absolute hurricane.”