Bindi Irwin

Early life

Bindi Irwin was born in Buderim, Queensland. She began appearing on television shows as early as age two. She appeared regularly in her father's television shows, including The Crocodile Hunter Diaries, and also appeared in the 2002 film The Wiggles: Wiggly Safari in a credited cast role. She is of English and Irish ancestry, with abundance of Irish ancestry on her father's side. Although born in Australia, she and her brother Robert are dual citizens of Australia and the United States, as their mother is a citizen of the United States.

Irwin was homeschooled until 2014, when she enrolled at TAFE Queensland East Coast. She has completed a Certificate III in Business, and is currently studying for a Certificate III in Tourism.

Career

Irwin was the presenter of a 26-part wildlife documentary kids show called Bindi the Jungle Girl, a production of the Discovery Kids television network. Her father was filmed in many of the early shows before his death in September 2006, when production was temporarily put on hold. The series premiered in June 2007 on Discovery Kids.

When Bindi was 2 years old her grandmother Lyn Irwin died in a car accident on 11 February 2000. Bob has since remarried Judy Irwin. Bindi is the niece of Joy Irwin and Mandy Irwin. Bindi's father, Steve, was killed by a stingray barb on 4 September 2006. He was setting up to shoot ocean reef footage for a show that would include segments with himself, because weather prevented him from filming footage for a different show. Irwin and her mother announced that she would continue her late father's conservation and television work. Steve Irwin had said he supported Bindi's career, claiming "I just want to be co-star to my daughter".

On 20 September 2006, Irwin received a standing ovation after delivering a eulogy for her father in front of a crowd of 5,000 and a worldwide television audience of more than 300 million viewers. In the 2006 TV Week readers' poll, her speech received 43 percent of votes and was voted the television moment of the year. Her mother stated that, apart from some assistance with typing, Irwin had written the speech herself.

In June 2007, Irwin hosted a US television special about her father called My Daddy the Crocodile Hunter. She also released two child fitness DVDs. Bindi and The Crocmen sang "Trouble in the Jungle" on The Today Show in November 2007 and Irwin was learning how to play the piano.

In September 2006, at age 8, Irwin appeared on the cover of the Australian magazine New Idea, the youngest person to have done so in the magazine's 104-year history.

In early January 2007, Irwin appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. At that time, she was also scheduled for appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman and an attendance with Russell Crowe at a major dinner. She was promoting her new video, Bindi Kid Fitness, and fulfilling her role as a newly appointed "tourism ambassador" for Australia.

Irwin appeared on Larry King Live on 11 January 2007. She said that creative writing was her favourite subject and maths her least favourite. She also said that she enjoyed being homeschooled because she and her teachers were such good friends.

Alongside George Lopez and Tyler James Williams, Irwin presented the award for "Favorite Male Singer" at the 2007 Kids' Choice Awards, which was won by the show's host Justin Timberlake. With help from Glenn Robbins, Irwin also presented the award for 'Most Outstanding Children's Show' at the Logie Awards of 2007, which was won by The Upside Down Show.

On 22 November 2007, Irwin appeared with her mother Terri in the 81st Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and performed songs from her album Trouble In The Jungle with The Crocmen on a jungle animal float.

On 4 May 2008, Irwin won the Most Popular New Female Talent Logie Award. Then on 13 June 2008, at the age of nine, she became the youngest performer ever to win a Daytime Emmy Award when she won the award for "Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series". The previous record was held by Camryn Grimes, who won the "Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series" at age ten for her performance in The Young and the Restless.

In addition to singing and dancing Bindi has tried her hand at rapping.

Irwin commits 10% of her wage to Wildlife Warriors, the charity founded by her family in 2002.

She starred as Kirra in the movie Free Willy: Escape from Pirate's Cove, released on 23 March 2010.

In 2012, Irwin hosted a wildlife-themed game show called Bindi's Bootcamp. Filmed at Australia Zoo, the contestants were put through "adventure challenges" to educate and test their wildlife knowledge. It was produced in association with Sydney-based Sticky Pictures, under commission from ABC, and debuted in July on ABC3.

Irwin starred in the sequel to Nim's Island playing the lead character Nim, originally played by Abigail Breslin.

In 2012, Irwin appeared as Sunday Clovers on the episode "Mirror rorriM" of the Canadian television series, My Babysitter's a Vampire.

In 2013, Irwin made a brief appearance on the Australian TV series Big Brother to surprise housemate Tim, who had mentioned her several times throughout the series, saying "I want to thank you for being an incredible Wildlife Warrior. I hope when you're out of the house you can come visit me".

In March 2014, Irwin appeared on Good Morning America with her family, where she announced a partnership with animal theme park company Seaworld. This decision was strongly criticized by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, who criticized the Irwin family for supporting a company accused of animal abuse, referencing the documentary Blackfish.

In October 2014, Irwin was awarded Young Conservationist of the Year by the Australian Geographic Society.

In August 2015, Irwin was announced as a competitor on season 21 of the American reality television series Dancing with the Stars, paired with five-time champion Derek Hough. Since Irwin was a minor during the competition, she required special permission by California courts to perform. Irwin and Hough were declared the winners of the season on 24 November 2015.

Music career

On 27 November 2006 Bindi released her debut album Bindi Kid Fitness with Steve Irwin and The Crocmen. A year later on 17 November 2007 she released her second album Trouble In The Jungle. This was the only album to feature Bindi rapping. Trouble In The Jungle includes a tribute song to Steve called "My Daddy The Crocodile Hunter". She then released her third album Bindi Kid Fitness Volume 2 Jungle Dance Party on 11 October 2008. Bindi originally had a band called Bindi and The Crocmen. As of 2009 Bindi has a new band called Bindi and The Jungle Girls. Bindi eventually released her fourth album in 2013 Bindi and The Jungle Girls African Dance Party. Bindi released her fifth album in 2016 Bindi and The Jungle Girls Bindi's Island Dance Party.

Albums

Exercise DVDs

Dancing with the Stars performances

Irwin, who was partnered with Derek Hough, won season 21 of Dancing with the Stars (U.S.) on 24 November 2015. Irwin and Hough hold the record for the most perfect scores, with eight.

¹ Score by guest judge Alfonso Ribeiro.

² This week only, for "Partner Switch-Up" week, Irwin performed with Valentin Chmerkovskiy instead of Hough. Hough performed with Alexa PenaVega.

³ Score given by guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy.

⁴ Score given by guest judge Olivia Newton-John.