A familiar love story, a single mother battling her grief, and feeding alligators
as a rite of passage. Steve Irwin's family lovingly carries on his legacy,
thanks in part to the relationship between Bindi Irwin and her mom, Terri.
Bindi made it official with her longtime partner Chandler Powell on March 25, 2020 by tying the
knot at the Australia Zoo. According to a post from Bindi on Instagram, since the wedding
happened during the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ceremony did not have any guests.
Bindi also revealed that the couple paid tribute to the bride's late father at the
ceremony, and Terri naturally chipped in, writing:
"Mum helped me get ready, Robert walked me down the aisle, Chandler became my
husband and together we lit a candle in Dad's memory. We shared tears and smiles and love."
It was not just her father who Bindi paid tribute to during her wedding ceremony,
as Bindi honored her mother with her beautiful wedding gown,
which resembled the gown Terri wore on her wedding day back in 1992.
The wedding gown is not the only similarity that the newlyweds share with Bindi's parents,
though. According to People, just like Steve and Terri, Bindi and Chandler first met at the
Australia Zoo — and just like how Terri moved to Australia from the United States for Steve,
Chandler moved to Australia from Florida to be with Bindi.
Bindi and Chandler met for the first time when
Powell visited the Australia Zoo with his parents way back in 2013.
"I loved Steve and Terri's documentaries so I grew up watching them and that's what
brought me to Australia Zoo, so it's really special how life worked out."
The pair instantly became friends and kept a steady line of communication ever since.
In 2015, Chandler joined the Australia Zoo's Wildlife Warriors team as a global ambassador.
After dating long-distance for a couple of years,
Chandler moved to Australia to live with the Irwins at the Australia Zoo,
where the couple now works alongside the other Irwins. As Bindi said in an interview with People:
"I'm so lucky that I've met someone who is excited and up for the challenge of our
wonderful busy life. We're having a great time throwing Chandler into everything."
Bindi's brother Robert is also quite fond of his brother-in-law, saying in the same interview:
"One of the first times Chandler came to the zoo I wanted to kind
of test him. Just to see what would happen. So we had him feeding alligators and he did
awesome. I'm very impressed. He's great with wildlife so I approve."
Even after she and Chandler got married, Bindi and her husband continued to pay
tribute to her parents and their love. A look at Bindi's Instagram posts would be
more than enough for anyone to know that the 21-year-old has nothing but immense love and
respect for her parents. She frequently posts snippets and unseen photographs
of her father with heartfelt captions that capture how much she misses him.
According to People, in September 2020, Bindi and Chandler announced that they were expecting
a baby girl. On January 14, 2021, Bindi took to Instagram to share an adorable picture of
Chandler kissing her heavily pregnant belly, along with a picture of Bindi and Steve kissing
Terri's belly when she was pregnant with Bindi's younger brother Robert, writing in the caption:
"Recreating a very special moment. Third-trimester love."
Bindi gave birth to her daughter, Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, on Bindi and Chandler's first
wedding anniversary on March 25, 2021. Since then, she has been sharing adorable
photos of their beautiful daughter — and the star's fans can't get enough of her.
In an interview with People for their May 2022 cover story, Bindi revealed how grateful she is
to her mother for everything she had done for her and Robert, and that she has a newfound
respect and sense of gratefulness for Terri now that she is a mother herself. She said:
"It does change your perspective. I probably tell my mom how much I
appreciate everything she did on an hourly basis. [...] She is such a strong person,
and she had to raise me and Robert mostly on her own."
Steve Irwin's death was a huge shocker for his fans all over the world. When "The Crocodile
Hunter" died in 2006 at age 44, Bindi and Robert were only eight and two years old,
respectively. After Steve's sudden death following a freak accident involving a stingray,
Terri single handedly brought Bindi and Robert up. To raise two children alone is no easy task,
especially when you are a single mother processing such a devastating loss — though
Terri was pleased that Bindi was able to maturely handle the death of her father.
"She knows what death is. She said goodbye to her father. She did a little card,
she said what she wanted to say."
However, grief is a long term and incredibly difficult process,
as Terri shared in an interview with People:
"No matter the circumstances are that you lose someone,
nobody's truly prepared. Steve's accident was so unexpected, it was extremely challenging."
She also revealed that one of the ways they coped with their loss
was to sit down together every night and practice gratitude, with Terri explaining:
"We'd each say our favorite part of the day, what we were most looking forward to tomorrow,
and a good deed we did that day. You can't focus on yourself. You
need to focus on what you're doing for others and then you can start to heal."
While Bindi has made it quite clear that she feels lucky to have Terri as her mother,
she also thinks her daughter Grace is also lucky to have such a strong maternal figure
in her life. On social media, Bindi frequently provides glimpses of the
adorable grandmother-grandchild duo and their shenanigans at the Australia Zoo.
On July 20, 2022, Bindi took to Instagram to share a bunch of pics of the Irwin
family and wish Terri a happy birthday on Grace's behalf, writing in the caption:
"Our beautiful daughter is blessed beyond measure
to have all the love in the world from my sweet mama."
In another Instagram post celebrating her mother, Bindi didn't hesitate to go all in by saying:
"I love you more than I could possibly describe and every day I'm grateful for your kind heart
and strong soul. Of all the good things in this world, you're the most wonderful."
If the numerous interviews and heartfelt social media tributes to her parents are
to be considered proof, it can definitely be said that Bindi
Irwin's unquestionable love and respect for her mother is only getting stronger by the day.