328- ] English Literature - Robert Irwin

328- ] English Literature

Robert Irwin 

Public image

Irwin spent his entire life in the public eye due to his parents' celebrity status. His birth was televised on the third and final season of their wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter Diaries. From a young age, media outlets noticed that Irwin bore an uncanny resemblance in physical appearance, personality, and mannerisms to his late father. The press began commenting on Irwin's sex appeal and labelled him as a sex symbol when he transitioned into adulthood. Although he disagreed with the label, he embraced it as a way of further promoting environmentalism.

Dean Blake of Man of Many wrote that Irwin's charisma, effervescence, and comfortability in front of a camera allowed him to be "one of the most genuine and authentic voices in wildlife conservation." Talent agencies called him a "publicist's dream" and compared him to a live action Ken doll, "except with a brain, soul and gorgeous heart." Ashley Spencer for The New York Times complimented the way Irwin embraced his emotional vulnerability, noting that he "makes no attempt to appear cool or aloof. He often throws his head back in full-throated laughter, and he gleefully celebrates everyone around him." The Australian's Jenna Clarke echoed her sentiments and opined that he should be used as a yardstick for modern masculinity. Patrick Lenton of The Guardian wrote that while Dancing with the Stars notable for rehabilitating benighted public figures, Irwin's appearances were a genuinely wholesome "shot of joy." Michael Idato of The Sydney Morning Herald agreed, writing that his experience offered "an extremely positive story in an otherwise overwhelmingly negative news cycle."

Irwin is regarded as an influential figure in Australian popular culture. He and his sister were named to the inaugural Time 100 Next list in 2019. Mediaweek declared him the third-most influential Australian across social media platforms in 2023. Scientists with the Queensland Museum named a species of garden banded snails they discovered after him. At age 20, Irwin became the youngest Australian to be immortalised with a wax figure by Madame Tussauds Sydney. He is the third man in modern times to appear solo on the cover of The Australian Women's Weekly, joining actor Hugh Jackman and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Irwin partnered with the National Football League to promote their International Series. He was named a global ambassador for Columbia Sportswear, and starred in advertising campaigns for brands such as HelloFresh, Twisties and Uber Eats. His underwear campaign for Bonds generated over US$80 million in earned media value.

Personal life

Although he is "disarmingly friendly and welcoming" to the press, Irwin prefers to keep his personal life out of the public eye. He thought the significant media attention he received was "weird" and disliked the paparazzi industry and tabloid journalism. Commentators noticed that whenever Irwin was approached with personal topics, he spoke about them "in broad terms, his cheerful tone belying the wall of privacy he has delicately constructed."

Irwin was previously in an eighteen-month relationship with Rorie Buckey, the niece of actor Heath Ledger. He has germophobia and spasmenagaliaphobia, a rare and irrational fear of broken glass. He was hospitalised with appendicitis in January 2018, which resulted in an emergency appendectomy. After experiencing an awakening, Irwin spoke about his mental health struggles such as anxiety, complicated grief, and imposter syndrome. He believed it was important for those who were as "chronically positive" as him to prioritise their psychological well-being.

Irwin resides on the private grounds of Australia Zoo with his family. He is an LGBTQ ally and encouraged men to advocate for women's health. He considers himself to be a spiritual person and found the most solace in nature. An avid participant in adventure sports, Irwin's hobbies include mountain biking, rock climbing, skateboarding and surfing. He also enjoys artistic pursuits like cooking, creating landscape paintings and visual art, playing the guitar and singing.

Filmography

Key

†        Denotes films that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove	The Pirate Boy (uncredited)	Cameo role
2015	The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water	Kyle the Seagull (voice)	Australian edition only
2025	Zootopia 2	Robert Furwin (voice)	Cameo role	Film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007–2008   2011 2012	Bindi the Jungle Girl Kate Plus 8 Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors	Himself	2 episodes; credited as Bob Irwin Episode: "Australia Zoo Visit" Host alongside Bindi Irwin
2014	Dino Dan: Trek's Adventures	Foreign exchange student from Australia	Guest appearance; 14 episodes
2015   2015–   20252017– 2026   2018–2022   2019–2022	Ten Deadliest Snakes Dancing with the Stars The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Crikey! It's the Irwins The Kelly Clarkson Show	Himself
2020	Bluey	Alfie (voice)	Guest role (S2E37)
	Sesame Street	Himself
	Earth to Ned
2022	RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under Kurt Fearnley's One Plus One Have You Been Paying Attention?		Guest appearance; 5 episodes Guest appearance; Main cast; also co-producer  Guest appearance (S2E1)  Main cast Host alongside Julia Morris Episode: "A Ned's Best Friend"  Episode: "Robert Irwin" Guest quizmaster (S10E25) Host Guest judge (S18E31) episode1
2022–2023	Celebrity Gogglebox Australia
2024–2026	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!
2026	Dancing with the Stars: The Next Pro † 66th TV Week Logie Awards † MasterChef Australia

Accolades

Award	Year[a]	Nominated work	Category	Result
AACTA Awards	2025 2026	Irwin	Favourite Australian Media Personality	Won Won
Critics' Choice Real TV Awards	2026	Dancing with the Stars	Male Star of the Year	Nominated
Logie Awards	2013	Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors	Most Popular New Male Talent	Nominated
	2024 2026	I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!	Most Popular Personality on Australian Television Most Popular Personality on Australian Television Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter	Nominated           Nominated             Pending
			Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter	Pending
Shorty Awards	2020	Irwin	Best in Activism (shared with Bindi Irwin)	Nominated

  

327- ] English Literature - Robert Irwin

327- ] English Literature

Robert Irwin

Born 1 December 2003 (age 22) Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Other names         Bob Irwin Baby Bob

Citizenship           Australia United States

Occupations        Conservationist zoo keeper wildlife photographer television presenter actor

Years active          2004–present

Parents              Steve Irwin (father) Terri Irwin (mother)

Relatives     Bindi Irwin (sister) Bob Irwin (grandfather) Chandler Powell (brother-in-law)

Website           robertirwinphotos.com

Robert Clarence Irwin (born 1 December 2003) is an Australian conservationist, zookeeper, wildlife photographer, and television presenter. The son of conservationists Steve and Terri Irwin, he manages Australia Zoo in Beerwah, Queensland, and is frequently involved in activities that his father originally participated in.

Irwin starred in and co-produced the Animal Planet television series Crikey! It's the Irwins (2018–2022) with his mother and older sister, Bindi. He co-hosted the Network 10 entertainment program I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2024–2026) alongside Julia Morris, which earned him Logie Award nominations for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television and Most Popular Presenter. Irwin also won the thirty-fourth season of the American competition series Dancing with the Stars alongside Witney Carson, and will host its upcoming spin-off program The Next Pro.

Early life

Robert Clarence Irwin was born on 1 December 2003 in Buderim, Queensland. His father, Steve Irwin (1962–2006), was an Australian conservationist best known for his wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter (1996–2004). Steve owned and operated Australia Zoo with his wife Terri Irwin (née Raines; b. 1964), an American naturalist from Eugene, Oregon. Irwin was named after his paternal and maternal grandfathers: Bob Irwin (b. 1939), the co-founder of Australia Zoo, and Clarence Raines (1921–2008), a World War II veteran. He has an older sister, Bindi, who is also a conservationist and television personality. The siblings aredual citizens of Australia and the United States, and are of English, Irish, and Swedish descent.

Irwin was blessed by Tibetan Buddhist nuns during a ceremony held by his parents at Australia Zoo one month after he was born. Moments later, his father carried him in his arm while hand feeding a chicken carcass to a 3.8-metre (12 ft 6 in) saltwater crocodile, named Murray. Irwin was close to the reptile, which sparked international media outrage and brought comparisons to the singer Michael Jackson dangling his son outside of a hotel window one year prior. The incident prompted the Queensland Government to change its crocodile handling laws, banning children and untrained adults from entering crocodile enclosures. Special dispensation, however, was granted to a child who met a very strict set of guidelines and training requirements.

When Irwin was two years old, his father was killed by a stingray barb injury to the heart while filming an underwater documentary. He was homeschooled at Australia Zoo for his entire education, allowing flexibility for his wildlife and media commitments. Irwin developed an interest in photography partly through his father; he found it to be an "individual" way of continuing his work. He started taking photographs when he was six years old using a point-and-shoot camera and later received his first DSLR, the Canon EOS 700D. He graduated high school with two TAFE certificates when he was fifteen years old.

Career

2004–2013: Early beginnings

Irwin made his television debut during his parents' appearance on the interview program Enough Rope with Andrew Denton on 22 March 2004. He made two appearances on his sister's television series Bindi the Jungle Girl (2007–2008), and had an uncredited cameo role in the family film Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove. At the age of eight, following extensive training, Irwin was allowed to feed alligators and freshwater crocodiles for the first time under expert supervision.

In March 2013, Irwin earned his first Logie Award nomination for Most Popular New Male Talent for his role on the Network 10 program Steve Irwin's Wildlife Warriors. He also released a series of children's books titled Dinosaur Hunter, which he provided illustrations and co-authored with Lachlan Creag and Jack Wells. Irwin was involved in a six-year campaign, led by his mother, to prevent bauxite strip mining at the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve on the Cape York Peninsula. The Queensland Government passed legislation to protect the reserve from mining in November.

2014–2017: Rise to prominence

On his tenth birthday, Irwin fed his first large saltwater crocodile, named Monty, at the Australia Zoo's Crocoseum. He was supervised and assisted by Wes Mannion, the zoo's director and his late father's best friend. Irwin made his television presenting debut alongside Isabel Yamazaki on the Discovery Asia-Pacific science program Wild But True (2014–2015), which explored biomimetics. The program was nominated for Best Kids: Factual at the 5th International Emmy Kids Awards. Irwin made a guest appearance on the second season of the British documentary series Ten Deadliest Snakes with Nigel Marven. He was named the junior runner-up of Australian Geographic's 2016 Nature Photography of the Year competition for his image of a large male saltwater crocodile resting on a riverbank in Northern Queensland.

Beginning in February 2017, Irwin made regular appearances on the NBC late-night program The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He made eleven appearances on the show in a span of two years and found success with American television viewers by presenting various animals to host Jimmy Fallon and comedian Kevin Hart. Irwin was invested as a member and ambassador of Scouts Australia on 6 April 2017, formalising a partnership between the organisation and Australia Zoo that aimed to encourage Australian youth to get involved with wilderness and conservation. Irwin was a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2017 Nature Photographer of the Year competition. His image of a young spotted python slithering in the bushland of the Cape York Peninsula was exhibited at the South Australian Museum in Adelaide and the Australian Museum in Sydney.

2018–2019: Photography recognition and Crikey! It's the Irwins

In April 2018, Irwin and his family unveiled his father's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and met with Charles, Prince of Wales at Lady Elliot Island to discuss the future of the Great Barrier Reef. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2018 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a sunset at the Great Dividing Range. In October, Irwin started running Australia Zoo's daily crocodile feeding demonstrations; a job previously held by his father. He also starred in and co-produced the Animal Planet television program Crikey! It's the Irwins alongside his mother and sister. The series, like The Crocodile Hunter franchise, followed the family and their work at Australia Zoo across four seasons.

For capturing a tundra swan at the Klamath Basin in Oregon, Irwin was highly honoured in the youth category at the 2018 Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards and was exhibited at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC. His image of a huntsman spider in mid-air while clutching a dead frog was highly commended in the youth category at the 2018 Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards.

Two of Irwin's photographs, featuring an Eurasian dotterel and an emu, were commended in the youth category at the 2019 BirdLife Australia Photography Awards. He was named a junior finalist for Australian Geographic's 2019 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his image of a bearded dragon camouflaging on a log in Blackbutt, Queensland. Two of his photographs were highly honoured at the 2019 Nature's Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards; one image featured one of the last known northern white rhinoceroses in the world at the Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya.The Queensland Tourism Industry Council declared Irwin their Young Achiever of the Year, in recognition of his contributions to "the development of a vibrant and professional tourism industry."

2020–2024: I'm a Celebrity!

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Annastacia Palaszczuk, the premier of Queensland, recruited Irwin for a domestic tourism campaign encouraging Australians to spend their holiday at the state. He was named the junior runner-up for Australian Geographic's 2020 Nature Photographer of the Year competition with his close-up image of an Australian scrub python. Irwin won the People's Choice Award at the 2020 Wildlife Photography of the Year Awards for capturing a large bushfire burning near the border of the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve during Australia's Black Summer. The image was exhibited at the Natural History Museum in London.

Irwin made a guest appearance on the animated television series Bluey in February 2021 as a dingo retail clerk named Alfie. While filming for the fourth and final season of Crikey! It's the Irwins, Irwin had to make an emergency escape from a crocodile enclosure after a 3.7-metre-long (12 ft), 350-kilogram (770 lb) saltwater crocodile, named Casper, ignored the food Irwin was offering him and instead made a beeline for Irwin himself. He managed to scale the enclosure walls just in time and avoided injury. Irwin made a surprise performance with the original members of the children's music group The Wiggles at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in May 2022. He published his first photo book, Robert Irwin's Australia, in October; all proceeds were directed towards wildlife conservation.

In October 2023, Irwin replaced veterinarian Chris Brown as the co-host of the Network 10 television program I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, hosting alongside comedian Julia Morris. He agreed to host under the condition that the series stopped using wildlife products. Two months later, he was honoured by GQ Australia as their Social Force of the Year. For his inaugural season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, Irwin was nominated for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television and the Bert Newton Award for Most Popular Presenter at the Logie Awards of 2024. He was also recognised by Mediaweek as a rising star in Australia's advertising, media and marketing industries. In September, he and South African actress Nomzamo Mbatha were named the first two global ambassadors for the Earthshot Prize, launched by William, Prince of Wales and David Attenborough.2025–present: Dancing with the Stars

At the 14th AACTA Awards in February 2025, Irwin won Favourite Australian Media Personality. He was announced as the first contestant on the thirty-fourth season of the American competition series Dancing with the Stars in April. By the following month, he assumed a managerial role at Australia Zoo and was named to the board of directors of its non-profit organisation Wildlife Warriors. Irwin starred in the second chapter of Tourism Australia's Come and Say G'day campaign, which launched in key international markets in August. It amassed over 374 million views worldwide and was effective in drawing positive interest from potential tourists.

On Dancing with the Stars, Irwin was partnered with professional dancer Witney Carson; he later competed in a jive relay with actress Xochitl Gomez. Their foxtrot routine to "Footprints in the Sand" by Leona Lewis made them the first individual couple of the season to earn a perfect score. Despite Irwin suffering a rib cage injury prior to the finale, the couple won the competition on 25 November 2025. Irwin is the first Australian male contestant to win the series and, at age 21, is the youngest male winner so far. Additionally, as his sister won the twenty-first season with professional dancer Derek Hough, they became the first celebrity sibling duo to be crowned champions.

326- ] English Literature - Robert Irwin

326- ] English Literature

Robert Irwin

Robert Irwin Headshot

Personality • Photographer • Conservationist

Birth Date: December 1, 2003

Age: 22 years old

Birth Place: Buderim, Queensland, Australia

Parents: Steve Irwin

Siblings: Bindi Irwin

Robert Irwin is an Australian television personality, wildlife photographer, and conservationist, best known as the son of the late Steve Irwin, the famous "Crocodile Hunter."

Born on December 1, 2003, Robert grew up at the Australia Zoo, where his family continues to be deeply involved in wildlife conservation. Following in his father’s footsteps, he has become a prominent figure in wildlife media, co-hosting the Animal Planet series "Crikey! It's the Irwins" alongside his mother Terri and sister Bindi. Robert is also a skilled wildlife photographer, with his work featured in major magazines and exhibitions.

Known for his enthusiastic and charismatic on-screen presence, he has appeared on numerous talk shows, including frequent segments on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon," where he presents animals in educational and entertaining ways.

  Biography

Robert Clarence Irwin was born on Dec. 1, 2003. He is a passionate wildlife conservationist, and the energy he brings to his work at Australia Zoo is contagious. Irwin is determined to protect wildlife and inspire others through his work behind, and in front of the lens as a nature photographer and TV presenter.

Irwin and his family live at Australia Zoo and also operate the nonprofit charity, Wildlife Warriors. There is nothing he enjoys more than heading out into the Crocoseum to participate in daily croc demonstrations, where he has the opportunity to share his love and knowledge of his favorite animal, crocodiles.

Irwin’s travels take him to every corner of the globe pursuing his work as an advocate for the environment. Whether that is catching up with the various global conservation projects that Wildlife Warriors supports, embarking on a photography expedition, or working on a new show to broaden his message.

325- ] English Literature - Alasdair Gray - Poor Things

325- ] English Literature

Alasdair Gray

                                                  Poor Things

First edition

Author        Alasdair Gray

Cover artist Alasdair Gray

Language    English

Publisher    Bloomsbury Press

Publication date   1992

Publication place  United Kingdom

Media type Print (hardback and paperback)

Preceded by          McGrotty and Ludmilla

Poor Things: Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer is a novel by Scottish writer Alasdair Gray, published in 1992. It won the Whitbread Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize the same year.

A postmodern retelling of the 1818 gothic horror novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley, the narrative follows the life of Bella Baxter, a surgically fabricated woman created in late Victorian Glasgow. Bella’s navigation of late 19th century society is the lens through which Gray delivers social commentary on patriarchal institutions, social equality, socioeconomic matters and sexual politics.

The novel itself is epistolary, being composed of a fictional novella entitled Episodes from the Early Life of Archibald McCandless M.D., Scottish Public Health Officer, several extended letters, a spread of original illustrations, as well as an Introduction and Critical Notes. The bracketing Introduction and Critical Notes feature a meta-textual component, in that they simultaneously exist in the novel’s fictional canon, but are also credited to real-life author Alasdair Gray.

The novel is illustrated by Alasdair Gray, despite the text claiming the illustration were created by Scottish painter and printmaker William Strang.

Plot

The story begins in 19th-century Glasgow with Archibald McCandless, a young medical student who becomes involved with the eccentric and brilliant surgeon Godwin Baxter. McCandless meets Bella Baxter, a beautiful, childlike woman who lives under Godwin’s care. According to McCandless’s account, Bella is the result of a radical experiment: Godwin discovered the body of a pregnant woman who had drowned and, in a grotesque act of science, revived her by implanting the brain of her unborn fetus into her adult body. This experiment supposedly created a new life—Bella—with the physical form of a grown woman and the mind of a newborn.

Under the guidance of Godwin and Archibald, Bella quickly matures intellectually and emotionally, developing into a curious, assertive, and sexually liberated woman. Though McCandless falls in love with her, Bella resists his romantic idealization and seeks her own experiences. She leaves with the decadent lawyer Duncan Wedderburn on a whirlwind trip across Europe and the Middle East. During their travels, Bella confronts the inequalities and absurdities of the Victorian world, eventually realizing that Wedderburn sees her more as a possession than a partner. Disillusioned, she escapes him and returns to Glasgow.

Back home, Bella becomes a champion of women's rights, social reform, and public health. She and Archibald eventually marry—not as a result of submission, but as a conscious, equal partnership built on mutual respect and shared political ideals. Together, they work to improve the lives of the poor, challenge the hypocrisy of the upper class, and confront the outdated moral structures of their time.

However, a letter from Bella herself—now known as Victoria McCandless—completely contradicts McCandless's memoir. She reveals that the resurrection story was a fabrication, a romantic fantasy created by Archibald to mythologize their relationship and his own sense of loss and failure. Bella insists that she was always a fully formed, intelligent woman, and that her life with Godwin and later Archibald was nothing like the fairy tale described in the memoir. This revelation casts doubt on everything the reader has just read, turning the novel into a postmodern puzzle about truth, memory, and the way stories are shaped by those who tell them.

Notes

Poor Things contains illustrations by Alasdair Gray, which the text claims are by the Scottish etcher and illustrator William Strang. There are also punning additions of fragments of images from Gray's Anatomy. One feature of the novel that has attracted comment is the page of review quotes, featuring a printed erratum strip. Some of these reviews are patently fictitious (such as those from the Skibereen Eagle and the Private Nose) and others are attributed to real publications, but seem so harsh that their authenticity is called into question.

Film adaptation

A film adaptation of the book was produced with Yorgos Lanthimos directing and Tony McNamara writing the script after the presentation of Denisse Nichols. The cast includes Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, Kathryn Hunter, and Jerrod Carmichael.[4] The adaptation was released in theatres on December 8, 2023.[5] The film enjoyed rapturous acclaim, winning several prizes including the Golden Lion at the 80th Venice Film Festival as well as four Academy Awards later that year.

By Rodge Glass January 22, 2020Arts & Culture