Robert Irwin is going back to his conservation job (Getty Images | Instagram/robertirwinphotography)
Robert Irwin is set to be “covered in mud” as he returns to his day job, after it was confirmed he will be hosting Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro.
The “proud” LGBTQ+ ally, who won Dancing with the Stars, last year made his name as the conservationist son of the legendary Steve Irwin. And alongside his showbiz career, he has revealed he will soon be returning to what he knows best.
“I’m heading back to what I would refer to as my day job, which is conservation,” he told People. “So I’ll be back in Australia for a few weeks in the middle of nowhere, then I’m straight on to London to do a big climate change summit, and then I’m back in the States over the summer to roll out The Next Pro.
“And then I’m back on my crocodile research expedition, covered in mud in the middle of Northern Australia.”
Irwin is teaming up with dancer Mark Ballas (son of Strictly judge Shirley Ballas) for The Next Pro. The DWTS spin-off, which premieres on 13 July, will see 12 dancers compete to win a pro spot on the main show.
Robert Irwin. (Getty Images)
Irwin had been rumoured for the job for months after his crowning moment on DWTS in November 2025.
He recently spoke to Jimmy Fallon about his conservation work, revealing he’d been “death-rolled” by a 14 foot crocodile, which he had called Jimmy Fallon.
Irwin explained: “I named this crocodile Jimmy Fallon, like, years ago, and he’s now what we call a boss croc. He’s huge… normal size for a crocodile.”
He went on: “We research crocodiles in the wild to better conserve them, right? So the way you do that – my dad came up with this – is you actually have to jump on them.
“So I jumped on the back of Jimmy Fallon and he death-rolled me.
“I jumped onto him. I kid you not. Fourteen foot of crocodile, big croc, death rolls me. So I’m stuck underneath him with my arm hanging out.
“I’ve got like probably, I don’t know, maybe 700lbs on top of me. And I’m just like, ‘What do I do?’
“Luckily he rolled back the other way, and I was fine. He’s a goer!”
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